Category: CEO & Senior Leaders

EU-CORD General Assembly 2026: finding a new direction
EU-CORD members gathered in Brussels from 21–23 April 2026 for this year’s General Assembly, bringing together around 30 participants, primarily CEOs and senior leaders from member organisations across Europe.

The meeting combined formal governance with space for reflection, dialogue, and peer exchange at a pivotal moment in EU-CORD’s journey.

This General Assembly focused on the future direction of the network. Following the recognition that the current organisational model is no longer sustainable, members engaged in an open and constructive process of discernment around what EU-CORD should look like going forward.

The programme was designed to support this. It included:
- A grounding in shared values through prayer and reflection
- A strategic session on “Why EU-CORD matters,” reaffirming the importance of a Christian voice in Europe’s humanitarian and development landscape
- Presentation and discussion of future scenarios, including more member-led approaches to coordination, advocacy, and working groups
- Plenary discussions allowing members to shape priorities and express preferences for the future model
- Dedicated CEO peer space for sharing, support, and prayer
- A formal governance session to guide next steps
Alongside these structured moments, the Assembly created space for informal connection, shared meals, and relationship-building—an essential part of what makes EU-CORD distinctive as a network.

What emerged clearly is that, while the form of EU-CORD is evolving, the commitment of members remains strong. There is a clear desire to continue working together, to support one another, and to remain engaged in European policy and practice.

EU-CORD is adapting—exploring a more sustainable, member-led way of working that reflects both the current context and the network’s strengths.

At its core, EU-CORD remains committed to bringing people together and to sustaining a thoughtful, faith-based voice in Europe. We remain open to organisations that share these values and who may wish to join us as this next phase continues to take shape.
Ruth Faber

28 April 2026

CEO & Senior Leaders
Unfashionably Humanitarian?

Reaffirming the Moral Foundations of Principled Humanitarian Action in a Geopolitical Age

As geopolitical competition increasingly shapes Europe’s external engagement, humanitarian actors face a critical question: how can principled, needs-based humanitarian action be protected in an increasingly political environment?

In today’s policy debates, humanitarian action can sometimes appear unfashionable — particularly as Europe’s external engagement is increasingly framed through the language of geopolitics. As tensions rise and strategic competition shapes international relations, calls for solidarity and needs-based assistance can seem out of step with a world increasingly defined by power and interests.

Yet the humanitarian imperative begins from a different starting point: that every human life carries equal dignity and worth.

This conviction lies at the heart of humanitarian action. The principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence are not abstract ideals but practical expressions of this moral commitment. They ensure that assistance is guided by need alone — not by politics, identity or strategic alignment.

These principles are also what make humanitarian action possible in fragile and polarised environments.

Navigating a changing political environment

Humanitarian action does not operate outside politics. Increasingly, the space for humanitarian work is shaped by decisions taken in foreign policy arenas.

Sanctions regimes, counter-terrorism legislation, migration policies and diplomatic positioning all influence where and how humanitarian organisations can operate. Whether humanitarian actors engage with these debates or not, they already shape humanitarian access and operations.

This reality creates a difficult but unavoidable challenge: protecting humanitarian principles today increasingly requires engagement beyond traditional humanitarian spaces.

Recent remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the EU Ambassadors Conference reflect the wider context in which these questions are unfolding. As Europe navigates a more competitive and uncertain global landscape, there is growing emphasis on strategic coherence and geopolitical engagement.

These realities cannot be ignored. Yet humanitarian action occupies a distinctive place within the EU’s external policies.

Its legitimacy and effectiveness depend precisely on its principled independence — responding to human need wherever it is found, rather than serving geopolitical alignment or strategic priorities.

Preserving this distinction will be essential if Europe’s humanitarian engagement is to maintain credibility and access in fragile contexts.

The ethical foundations of humanitarian action

Humanitarian principles were designed precisely for politically charged environments. They exist to ensure that responses to human suffering remain guided by humanity rather than political calculation.

For practitioners working in conflict zones or fragile states, these principles are not theoretical. They allow humanitarian organisations to build trust across conflict lines, negotiate access to communities in need, and maintain acceptance in deeply polarised contexts.

But beyond their operational value, these principles also carry ethical significance. They reflect a broader commitment to solidarity and compassion in the face of human suffering.

For many faith-based humanitarian organisations, this conviction is rooted in long-standing traditions that emphasise the dignity of every person and the moral responsibility to care for those who are most vulnerable.

In a world increasingly shaped by geopolitical rivalry, maintaining this moral clarity becomes even more important.

A timely conversation for Europe

These questions are particularly relevant as the European Union begins shaping priorities for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), where decisions about external action funding will signal how Europe intends to balance strategic interests with its humanitarian commitments.

Against this backdrop, Members of the European Parliament, EU officials and civil society representatives will gather in the European Parliament for a breakfast dialogue titled “Unfashionably Humanitarian?”.

Hosted by MEP Barry Andrews (Renew) and MEP Lukas Mandl (EPP), the discussion will explore the future of humanitarian funding and the values that underpin Europe’s global engagement.

The dialogue will feature reflections from His Excellency Archbishop Bernardito C. Auza, Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union, and Dr Josephine Sundqvist, Secretary General of LM International, bringing together ethical and operational perspectives on how Europe can sustain principled humanitarian action in an increasingly complex world.

Held under Chatham House Rule, the discussion will create space for open exchange between policymakers and practitioners on how humanitarian principles can be upheld as Europe’s external policies evolve.

Reaffirming Europe’s humanitarian commitment

Ultimately, the debate about humanitarian funding is not only technical or financial. It is also about the kind of global actor the European Union seeks to be.

A strong humanitarian commitment signals something fundamental about Europe’s values. It reflects the belief that solidarity matters, that compassion should shape policy, and that responding to suffering is not simply charity but responsibility.

In an international environment increasingly defined by competition and fragmentation, reaffirming principled humanitarian action may appear unfashionable.

Yet it may also prove to be one of the clearest expressions of Europe’s commitment to human dignity, solidarity and responsible global leadership.

Ruth Faber

13 March 2026

Advocacy Hub, CEO & Senior Leaders, Faith in Action, Funding & Partnerships
The 18th Camel: Navigating with Faith, Wisdom, and Courage

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let them ask of God…” – James 1:5

In a world marked by uncertainty and rapid change, the need for wisdom—and the courage to act on it—has never felt more urgent. It was in this spirit that EU-CORD members gathered in Berlin for the 2025 General Assembly and CEO & Senior Leaders Forum: to reflect, to reconnect, and to seek God’s guidance for the road ahead.

Chair of the Administrative Council, Agnes, opened the day with a story—one that would echo throughout the forum’s conversations and contemplations.

The Parable of the 18th Camel

A father passed away, leaving 17 camels to his three sons. In his will, he stated that half should go to the eldest, a third to the second, and a ninth to the youngest. The problem was clear: 17 camels couldn’t be divided in that way without splitting a camel—an outcome nobody wanted.

Unable to resolve the problem themselves, the sons went to a wise elder for guidance. The elder didn’t try to rearrange the inheritance. Instead, she added something: her own camel.

With 18 camels now in the mix, the division became simple. The eldest received 9, the second 6, and the youngest 2. A total of 17. The elder then took back her own camel, and the matter was resolved with peace and honour.

Agnes asked the room: what is the “18th camel” for EU-CORD? What new insight, act of trust, or gift of grace might God be offering to help us find clarity in complexity?

Standing at a Crossroads

The seismic shifts facing our sector this year have also been felt within the EU-CORD network. As members reflected on strategy, sustainability, and the future of collaboration, it became clear that this is not merely a period of change, but a turning point—a time to take stock, re-centre, and reaffirm the value of walking together as a faith-rooted network, even as we recognise the challenge of aligning vision with financial reality.

There was an honest acknowledgement that while the desire for deeper collaboration remains strong, it must be balanced with sustainability and clear priorities. This moment invites us not to scale back our ambition, but to redefine what collaboration and leadership look like in this evolving context. As Ulrich later reflected, the intrinsic value of being together remains foundational—even as the ways we express that togetherness continue to adapt.

A World in Crisis—and the Faith to Respond

Ulrich Nitschke from PIRON offered a wide-angle view of the global context: a “perfect storm” of intersecting crises. As of September 2025, humanitarian funding had fallen by 41% compared to the previous year. Only 21% of global humanitarian needs had been met—marking the worst year of unmet need since the Second World War.

But beyond the numbers, Ulrich painted a broader picture of a world undergoing deep structural change. Multilateral cooperation is weakening under the strain of national interests. Polarisation and right-wing populism are reshaping political discourse, often framing fear as virtue. The climate crisis continues to accelerate, and the benefits of emerging technologies like AI are increasingly concentrated—available to the few, while compounding marginalisation for the many.

His message to the room was unambiguous: this is not a moment to disband, detach, or retreat into organisational silos. This is a time to stand together. The temptation to fragment—to prioritise survival over solidarity—is understandable. But it is precisely in this context that networks like EU-CORD are most needed: to provide spaces of trust, to hold one another accountable, to generate prophetic imagination, and to act collectively with moral clarity.

This is not a time to go quiet. It is a time to speak—and live—the good news more boldly.

Drawing from Matthew 14:25–29, participants reflected on Jesus walking on the water. Before Peter could step out in faith, Jesus had first withdrawn to pray alone. Courage, we were reminded, begins in communion.

Many leaders spoke of how their own leadership has changed over the past year: becoming more prophetic, more relational, more willing to challenge injustice—yet also more honest about fatigue, uncertainty, and the spiritual cost of persistent crisis. There was a deep recognition that renewal will not come through strategy alone, but through faithfulness, humility, and the courage to keep going—even when the water feels unsteady beneath us.

EU External Funding 2028–2034: Key Shifts and Sector Impacts

Among the key contributions to the forum’s discussions on external trends was a presentation by CEO Ruth Faber, who shared an overview of the proposed EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028–2034. Her analysis highlighted the implications of structural shifts within the EU’s external funding instruments, particularly the potential impact on civil society engagement, humanitarian principles, and the future of development cooperation grounded in justice and local ownership.

The new structure, known as the Global Europe Instrument, promises simplification and strategic coherence. But as Ruth pointed out, this simplification comes at a cost. The proposed removal of dedicated thematic lines for civil society, the weakening of safeguards for ODA, and the merging of humanitarian aid into broader geopolitical objectives all threaten to compromise the very principles that should guide EU external action.

She warned that this shift risks pushing the EU’s development cooperation towards infrastructure and private sector finance—at the expense of human rights, local ownership, and poverty reduction.

“This is not just a structural change,” she said. “It is a shift in values. And we, as Christian actors, must speak into that. We must remind the EU that justice, dignity, and solidarity are not optional extras—they are essential.”

Building on this, Tabeth Masengu provided a focused reflection on the Global Gateway initiative, drawing attention to how the EU’s pivot towards infrastructure and blended finance risks sidelining core development and human rights objectives.

These presentations deepened a collective sense that strategic and faith-based advocacy is not only still needed—it is more important than ever. In response, there was renewed interest in how EU-CORD can strengthen its member-led approach to policy engagement, particularly within the evolving EU landscape.

A Closing Reflection: The Faith to Keep Walking

Throughout the forum, the story of the 18th camel returned—not just as a clever parable, but as a deep invitation.

Sometimes, what we lack is not more money or another strategy, but a shift in how we see the problem. Sometimes the solution isn’t to change the terms of the division, but to offer something new. Something gracious. Something from God.

Whether that “camel” is wisdom, patience, trust, or a renewed spirit of generosity, the message remains the same: God gives us what we need to move forward—if we ask, and if we listen.

The journey ahead may be uncertain.
But—like the disciples on the Emmaus Road—we do not need to walk alone.

Image Credit: Photo by Digital Buggu: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-pulling-camel-illustration-191295/

Ruth Faber

27 November 2025

CEO & Senior Leaders
In Solidarity: Faith-Based Organisations Express Deep Concern Over U.S. Aid Freeze
Caritas Europa, CIDSE, EU-CORD, HIAS, Islamic Relief, Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network

The combined impact of the U.S. Administration’s January 20^th executive order mandating a 90-day review and the January 24^th ‘stop work order’ have severe and immediate consequences for crisis-affected people. They also disrupt faith-based organisations’ long-standing partnerships with local faith and secular actors, undermining efforts to build resilient communities.

We urge the EU and its Member States to take collective action to mitigate the impact and uphold an aid policy that prioritises human dignity.

This decision has global consequences, affecting both organisations and, more importantly, the people they serve. The following are just a few examples of the widespread humanitarian impact, with countless other individuals and communities facing similar crises worldwide.
- 53,000 people fleeing conflict in Sudan will no longer be able to access basic services in neighbouring Chad.
- 57,000 displaced individuals in Colombia will lose access to mental health care and gender-based violence prevention services.
- Grain seeds in the war-affected Tigray region of Ethiopia will rot in storage sheds just as the sowing season begins. This disruption threatens an entire harvest in a region already suffering from severe food shortages due to conflict and destruction.
- Vulnerable migrants from Venezuela and the region will no longer receive lifesaving multisectoral vouchers that help them safely migrate within Colombia, allowing them to avoid the dangers of the Darién Gap. Without this support, their protection is significantly weakened, preventing access to transportation, basic medicines, food, and other essential supplies.
The impact is not just at a systemic level, individual lives are being directly affected.
- In Athens, legal aid for two Afghan refugees—both victims of extreme police brutality—has been abruptly cut. Having arrived as unaccompanied minors, they remain extremely vulnerable despite having legal status. With the termination of funding, their case remains incomplete, leaving them at extreme risk of reprisals for seeking accountability. The uncertainty has severely impacted their mental health, leaving them feeling abandoned and at risk.
- A 33-year-old Iranian woman who fled severe domestic violence has also lost vital support. Recently evicted from her home in Athens, she and her young child are now without mental health and financial assistance, including employability training designed to help her regain independence. This sudden loss of aid has left them in a desperate situation—economically, socially, and emotionally.
Many European NGOs access U.S. assistance directly through USAID and indirectly through the UN system. Many also work with local partners that receive direct U.S. funding, which makes this suspension a critical disruption to established financial pipelines.

Further, it undermines progress toward localisation and weakens the contributions of local actors in building a democratic civil society. These disruptions have far-reaching consequences in communities where trust and infrastructure have taken years to develop. As a result, local NGOs and civil society organisations will bear an even greater burden.

The scale of disruption extends beyond U.S. financing and demands urgent action from European donors. EU funding mechanisms typically require co-financing from public, private, or self-financed sources. Without increased flexibility and emergency derogations, further catastrophic losses are inevitable.

Faith-based organisations have long been at the heart of humanitarian response—sustaining social cohesion, delivering development cooperation, and serving as trusted partners embedded in local communities. Through churches, mosques, synagogues, and faith-based initiatives, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing support where it is needed most.

We call on global leaders, humanitarian partners, and faith communities to stand in solidarity and take decisive action to ensure that those in greatest need are not abandoned.

Download the full statement here:https://www.eu-cord.org/resource/us-aid-freeze-eu-fbo-statement-of-concern/
Ruth Faber

24 February 2025

Advocacy Hub, CEO & Senior Leaders
Funding Shifts and Challenges
Funding and partnerships have always been at the heart of the EU-CORD network. Recognising the rapidly changing financial landscape many NGOs face, including our members, the Secretariat was asked to undertake a piece of research that would examine member funding trends, strategies, and perspectives to spark a conversation about how we, as EU-CORD, can pivot and adapt to these evolving challenges and opportunities.

We discussed the report at our November 2024 General Assembly, which brought together fifty participants—CEOs and funding specialists across the network.

Insights from the Funding Study

The study combined in-depth data analysis with reflections from members, offering a comprehensive view of current funding dynamics. It examined trends across diverse income streams, including private supporters, institutional donors, foundations, and corporate sources. Members were also asked to reflect on the geopolitical shifts shaping donor priorities and changes in geographic and thematic funding trends.

The research underscored the need for a multi-faceted approach to securing financial sustainability.

Key future work priorities include improving access to funding opportunities, strengthening civil society partnerships, supporting organisational fundraising efforts, enhancing advocacy and networking, and promoting collaboration through consortia. Members also appreciated our new “funding lens” initiative, which helps fundraisers identify funding trends by analysing policies and reports in the EU space. Additionally, there was a clear request for increased sharing of insights on broader funding trends.

Driving Innovation and Collaboration

Discussions at the assembly highlighted the critical importance of innovation, collaboration, and preparedness in responding to the evolving financial ecosystem. While the network will continue to inform members about EU financing trends, there was strong interest in working together to explore new funding streams. Areas of particular focus include:
- Social Impact Bonds and Impact Investing: Innovative funding mechanisms that align financial returns with social outcomes.
- Public-Private Partnerships: Strengthening ties with the private sector to diversify funding sources.
- ESG Alignment: Exploring opportunities linked to Environmental, Social, and Governance principles to attract sustainable investments.
Member-Led Learning: A Key Outcome

A central outcome of the General Assembly was a renewed commitment to member-led learning initiatives. These initiatives will empower members to share expertise, co-develop solutions, and foster a collaborative environment for continuous improvement.

Collaboration is key to translating these ideas into action. As one participant noted:

‘We need to be generous with our time and experise to make this happen’

Looking Ahead

While challenges remain, the General Assembly demonstrated the network’s shared commitment to navigating these changes together. Through generosity, ambition, and collaboration, we are better equipped to secure sustainable funding and advance our mission in an increasingly complex world. The Funding and Partnerships community will take this work forward, and members are encouraged to engage in the groups that will be set up to explore these ideas further.

The ‘Funding Shifts and Challenges’ report is available to EU-CORD members as a summary and a detailed report; don’t hesitate to contact the secretariat if you haven’t received your copy.
Ruth Faber

21 November 2024

CEO & Senior Leaders, Funding & Partnerships
In-Country Forums are Growing!

It was following a EU-CORD ‘Funding and Partnerships Workshop’ in October 2019 hosted by Leprosy Mission in London that Paula Konttinen (FIDA) and Robert Osborne (Sign of Hope), who had both attended the workshop, started the East Africa EU-CORD forum jointly. Paula contacted all the initial participants, hosted and coordinated the meetings for the first two years thus taking the initiative by bringing workshop delegates together in Nairobi to build on their friendships and shared interests in East Africa development and so started to build the first ‘In-Country EU-CORD Forum’. At the beginning, informal monthly coffee gatherings were arranged. Participants shared their interests in learning, research, collaboration ideas and grant applications. An active WhatsApp group emerged and HQ support was granted which encouraged everyone to continue. In time a ‘collaboration statement’ was drafted which outlined their thematic interests, their common relationship in the EU-CORD network and consortia ideas. This was used to introduce forum members to the EU-delegation starting a donor relationship which has led to four concept note submissions with success with one leading to a full proposal submission in 2022. Two others are awaiting decisions.

In 2021 the suitability of the Kenya ‘model’ was to be tested by rolling the model out further when Ruth Faber introduced a new strategy to explore the possibility of establishing forums in new countries. Quickly forums came into being in Uganda and Ethiopia helped by Anders Jacobsen (LM International) and in Myanmar where an EU concept note was submitted. Since then, forums have started in Bangladesh, South Sudan and south-east Asia. Requests have been received by the Secretariat to explore the possibility of starting new forums in Nepal, The Philippines, DRC and Ukraine later in 2023.

Local leadership with direction developed by participants has led to each forum following its own unique direction. Learning from each other, finding opportunities for collaboration and building friendships while finding opportunities to seek donor funding has drawn willing participants together. The need for technical capacity building in understanding how DG INTPA works and how the application process functions as well as understanding who other potential donors are has created opportunity for the EU-CORD Secretariat and others to provide support drawing on Secretariat donor experience.

The shared features of all our forums is for there to be a convener, a leader who brings people together for meetings and hosts. This is often rotated on an annual or quarterly basis.

Having EU-CORD as the core is proving to be useful in many ways. The combined scale of EU-CORD member work impresses donors and opens doors (26 Europe based members working in more than 87 countries on humanitarian and development projects covering virtually all thematic areas) when included in an introductory statement to a ‘business case’. Local advocacy, when linked to EU-CORD’s work with Tabeth Masengu (EU-CORD Advocacy Officer) brings scale and added advocacy specialist support. Adrian Hawthorn is now providing support to forum leaders through discussing annual plans, sharing ideas and by providing training sessions on specific topics of interest when forums meet e.g. building consortia and meeting the donor etc. Adrian is also organising leaders’ meetings and an annual virtual conference for forum participants. Here ideas and challenges are shared, and fresh inspiration provided.

Being known by donors is so important. Many calls in 2023 by DG INTPA country delegations are ‘direct’ meaning that the donor invites INGO’s to make an application. Only those known to the delegation will be considered for such an invitation. A good place to start is with donor mapping to find out which donors are providing funding in your country. PerspActive continues to provide a weekly list of ‘open calls’, very useful through saving time screening donor websites. Sopeat Kiers-Mer (Teafund NL) has started a group looking at how Brussels connections can support member interests.

Perhaps the reasons the EU-CORD in-country forums are proving to be so popular is that we are stronger when we work together, combining our knowledge, skills, resources and thinking. When we collaborate on donor applications we are able to pool our creativity and design projects at greater scale. Donors are offering larger grants to applicants and that means that often these can only be accessed by those working at scale and in collaboration.

Later this year EU-CORD will be running a physical workshop in Nairobi 20-22 November ‘DG INTPA Grants and Partnerships Workshop’ (please register here). On 15^th November, a virtual all-day meeting for ‘In-Country Forum Members’ will be held. You can register here for this meeting.

The Ethiopia Forum sent me this photo taken at their last meeting. Please send Adrian (Adrian.hawthorn27@gamil.com) a picture of your next forum meeting so we can include them in the next newsletter, ‘Focus on Forums’. Finally, if you are interested in participating in the new forums planned for DRC, Ukraine, The Philippines or Nepal this autumn please let Adrian know.

Ruth Faber

7 August 2023

Annual Report, CEO & Senior Leaders, Funding & Partnerships, In-Country Forums
Advancing Disability Inclusion
At the spring General Assembly, the See You Foundation led members in a thought-provoking conversation on the necessary steps to foster inclusive workplaces and projects. Let’s delve into the key takeaways.

The discussion began with a resounding affirmation that everyone is inherently valuable regardless of their abilities. Rooted in deeply held Christian values, the participants emphasised the need to include the most vulnerable groups. They stressed that a vision for change is imperative, as people with disabilities can go unnoticed and unheard. Our collective responsibility is to ensure they are seen and their voices are heard.

Recognising that achieving inclusion is a journey, the participants advocated embracing even the smallest positive changes. Pragmatism played a crucial role, acknowledging that any progress is better than no progress. The question then arose: how can we take these small steps towards greater inclusivity?

The need for minimum standards in disability inclusion became a focal point of the discussion.

Establishing clear guidelines and expectations ensures that efforts towards inclusion are not arbitrary but backed by concrete frameworks. This would require organisations to develop disability-inclusive policies and human resources practices beyond superficial gestures.

Religion and faith-based approaches were also considered. While they can be powerful drivers of inclusion, the conversation acknowledged that they may inadvertently perpetuate stigma. Thus, it is imperative to uphold our Christian values by embracing inclusive practices, ensuring that no one is left behind.

CEOs identified several steps in advancing disability inclusion in their organisation:
1. To use EU-CORD as a learning space, fostering peer reviews and sharing policies and best practices.
2. To ensure that disability is not an isolated concern but rather intersects with other challenges, such as climate change. By breaking down silos, organisations can integrate disability inclusion into their overall strategies, contributing to a more holistic and sustainable approach.
3. The need to move beyond mere passivity and become more proactive in driving change. Instead of simply reacting to existing barriers, CEOs recognised that they needed to take the initiative in dismantling them and creating a more inclusive environment.
4. Focusing on making incremental improvements, even in the short term, is essential.
The conversation concluded by underscoring the significance of partnerships and collaboration. See You plays a vital role in mapping ongoing initiatives, conducting peer reviews, and sharing expertise. EU-CORD members were encouraged to draw on this resource.

In conclusion, the discussion on disability inclusion sparked thoughtful insights and a call for action. We can take small but meaningful steps towards creating a more inclusive society by embracing a vision for change, breaking down silos, and proactively addressing barriers.

It is a journey that requires the collective efforts of all organisations, not just specific ones.
Ruth Faber

6 July 2023

CEO & Senior Leaders
EU-CORD and the Climate Crisis
Today we share the first results of our climate mapping, where we have asked members to tell us how the climate crisis impacts them at an organisational level. You are invited to draw your conclusions, but these are three points that stand out to me:
1. There is unanimous agreement among respondents that we are facing a climate crisis. For 80% of those surveyed, it is considered one of their organisations’ top five strategic issues. It is encouraging that most respondents believe they can contribute to global efforts by changing their working methods.
2. The pressure to adapt and respond to the crisis is primarily driven by institutional donors/governments and, to a lesser extent, internal leadership teams. Most Christian traditions have an element of creation care and/or environmental justice as part of their teaching tradition, so why are we waiting for governments to drive change?
3. There is a clear challenge for organisations regarding how to work with their constituencies (support base). Is it enough for organisations to explain how a changing climate negatively affects the communities where they work, or are they asking their constituency – as people living in countries most responsible for climate impacts to make lifestyle changes? How far are organisations prepared to go?
The climate crisis and its impacts have featured in network discussions over the past decade.

A turning point came in 2019 when we invited Franciscan International, who explicitly link human rights and the environment in their work with United Nations mechanisms, to present their work and to help EU-CORD CEOs and Senior Leaders to reflect on the climate crisis from a personal perspective and from there, to consider how these personal convictions could be brought into their organisational setting.

What has prevented us from moving forward as a network has been finding a way to articulate exactly what ‘working on the climate crisis’ means for organisations focusing on humanitarian and development action. This comes from a background where addressing climate change and environmental issues has been the domain of environment CSOs or specific movements such as the Tearfund-backed Renew our World Campaign.

By 2022, the inclusion of the impact of the climate crisis was front and centre as an important issue for EU-CORD, even if we were still unsure what this would mean in practice.

In our strategy, we agree that:

We need to respond to the impact of the climate crisis through our advocacy messaging, our programming, and how we conduct our work. Our role is to draw attention to the impacts that climate change has amongst the varied communities where we are engaged and to lobby governments to implement new policy, and approaches. We have an opportunity to contribute to the greening of our sector through theologically inspired practice. The impact of the climate crisis will be one of our cross-cutting thematic priorities.

Knowing that cross-cutting issues risk being side-lined, we decided to make ‘impact of the climate crisis’ one of our two focus areas for 2023.
1. We are surveying our members to understand member perception of how the climate crisis is impacting them at an organisational level, and later, we will go into a more in-depth look at programmes and communities.
2. We are engaging with the PaRD Water, Environment and Climate Action workstream and contributing to efforts around Cop28. This helps us to be involved in global initiatives from a faith perspective.
3. We are exploring ways to reflect climate impacts in our advocacy work. This means incorporating climate-related concerns into our advocacy efforts.
4. From a funding perspective, we aim to help our members better understand how the EU is developing its climate objectives in calls for proposals, enabling them to prepare their programs accordingly.
5. Later in the year, we plan to run a short series on the theological response to the impact of the climate crisis as it relates to our humanitarian and development work.
Ruth Faber

31 May 2023

Advocacy Hub, Annual Report, CEO & Senior Leaders, Faith in Action
Spring General Assembly – the largest yet

The Spring 2023 General Assembly of EU-CORD was held in Brussels and was our largest gathering to date, with 51 attendees comprising both returning and new faces. The event was a joint General Assembly and Funding and Partnerships Forum, and several highlights emerged from the two-day event.

In some Christian traditions we say ‘Yahweh’ as an in-out breathing meditation. And I often think of the General Assembly as this in-out breath. On the first day we breathe in what the programme has to offer, and hold it for a little time, on the second – we breathe out our response as we listen and talk. Ruth Faber, EU-CORD CEO

A Moment for Strategic Partnership

One of the major highlights was the signing of a strategic partnership agreement between Fida and Hungarian Baptist Aid. This agreement will enable both organisations to simplify partnership arrangements and work together more closely and effectively in advancing shared mission and goals.

Professional Christian NGO Session

Another key event at the General Assembly was a discussion session on what it means to be a professional Christian NGO.

The CEO and Senior Leaders group explored this topic. Christine Mbito from the Kenyan organisation Viwango and Josephine Sundqvist, General Secretary of LM International, shared their insights and challenges in a session moderated by Floris Faber, Director, ActAlliance EU.

The conversation revealed that demonstrating professionalism in terms of standards, policies, and ways of working is well understood, but the people dimension is fundamental. It is mission-critical that organisations can recruit and grow people who will embody organisational values.

During the discussion, it became apparent that finding individuals with both the necessary technical competencies and a compatible value base presents a significant challenge for recruitment. In addition, CEOs face other recruitment-related obstacles, including managing remuneration expectations, expanding leadership teams, and benchmarking.

Reframing Partnerships – work continues

We also picked up the conversation started last year around analysing and strengthening the partnership relationship between EU-CORD members – Northern NGOs and their Southern partners. This has the potential to be a key piece of work for the network, and members interested in this initiative are encouraged to contact the Secretariat for more information.

New EU-CORD Member and Administrative Council Member

During the General Assembly, IAS Denmark was welcomed as a new member of EU-CORD. Agnese Kroese, CEO of Dorcas, was elected as a new member of the Administrative Council. The Council was also reinforced with the reappointment of Dietmar Roller (IJM Netherlands), Chris Lukkien (ZOA), and Any Pask (Cord). With Anne Haverinen (Fida), Markus Ask (LM International), and Gladstone Worthington (Leprosy Mission International).

In addition to voting on new members and administrative council members, the General Assembly appointed new auditors, and approved the 2022 accounts and 2024 strategic budget.

EU-CORD CEO Reflections

The General Assembly formally approved the 2023 workplan, and EU-CORD CEO Ruth Faber reflected on the two flagship projects for 2023 – the Climate Study and In-Country Forums.

The first phase of the climate study involved a rapid qualitative data collection of how members viewed the climate crisis and how they felt it would impact their work. The second part of the study will look more deeply at what members are doing–especially regarding programming and advocacy. Ruth also outlined how the Secretariat had organised itself to better support the In-Country Forum initiatives. EU-CORD is also stepping up its engagement in the Partnership for Religion and Development (PaRD).

Funding and Partnerships Forum

The Funding & Partnerships meeting featured several speakers who shared their insights and expertise on different topics related to managing donor relationships, disability inclusion, and engaging with European foundations.

Antonia Prentice-Potter from Alliance2015 and Milward Mwamvani from LM International spoke at the session on managing the Brussels EU donor relationship. They shared their experiences and insights on engaging with the EU effectively and the role that CEOs can play in supporting that interaction.

The See You Foundation led the session on disability inclusion, providing practical tools and examples of disability-inclusive programming in TVET education.

Annette Lukkien (Dorcas) and Nadège Lharaig from the Network of European Foundations spoke at the session on engaging with European foundations and discussing strategies for building effective collaborations with foundations in Europe and beyond.

The next General Assembly will be held in The Netherlands on the 6th and 8th of November alongside the Advocacy Forum. The subsequent Funding and Partnerships Forum will be a virtual gathering on the 21st and 22nd of November.

Since its inception, EU-CORD members have gathered twice a year as the General Assembly. In recent years, the General Assembly has been held alongside the physical gathering of one of our programme groups. Member CEOs and Senior Leaders attend the General Assembly. It includes a light but robust governance session, with most of the time given to input and discussion on topics that matter to the CEO and Senior Leaders group. It is an important moment for relationship building and investing in the trust capital that underpins collaborative approaches to our work. An essential part of this is the time we spend in prayer for each other.

Ruth Faber

8 May 2023

CEO & Senior Leaders

General Assembly
Stepping up to PaRD

Over 80% of people worldwide follow a religion, which shapes their thoughts and actions. Religious groups significantly impact sustainable development, reaching even the most remote areas through global and local networks. The International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) brings together government and multilateral entities, civil society organisations, especially faith-based organisations, to harness faith communities’ social capital and capacities for sustainable development and humanitarian aid. PaRD aims to improve communication and coordination between secular and non-secular actors, creating new synergies through collaboration. It also works with existing networks to promote a more coherent and inclusive international agenda on religion and development.

This vision aligns with EU-CORD, and we have been members of the PaRD network since 2019.

In 2022, we started to explore how we could deepen that engagement. We contacted the PaRD secretariat, who met with network members to explain PaRD and engagement opportunities. This led to Mission East and PMU contributing to the forthcoming PaRD publication ‘Promising Practices on Gender Equality.’

Following the PaRD General Assembly in Bali, where LM International General Secretary Josephine Sundqvist represented EU-CORD, CEOs agreed that we should offer to fill one of the co-lead spaces for the Water, Climate, and Environment workstream (WECARE for short).

This led to Ruth Faber, from the EU-CORD Secretariat, participating in the 2023 PaRD Leadership Meeting just outside Frankfurt, Germany, at the end of March.

Ruth writes:

‘This was a great opportunity to meet the other WECARE Co-Leads and many of the Work-Stream Co-Leads and PaRD Steering Group members. I was encouraged to hear from the various invited UN agencies on their approaches to faith engagement. By way of example, the Faith for Earth Initiative hosted by the United National Environment Programme’.

Working with PaRD is embedded in EU-CORD’s 2023 workplan, and Tabeth and I will seek to link you (our members) with PaRDs work in the months ahead.

PaRD’s website: www.pard.international

Ruth Faber

12 April 2023

CEO & Senior Leaders, Faith in Action
Achieving Greater Impact in a Better Way

At this year’s General Assembly, EU-CORD CEOs will consider what defines a Christian professional NGO in the humanitarian and development sphere. In this article, Andrew Paris, Process Excellence Manager at Medair, shares his experiences with Lean Green Belt process improvement. EU-CORD members can participate in a Lean workshop in March: https://www.eu-cord.org/events/lean-green-belt-training/

Andrew Parris writes:

We all want to achieve more with the limited resources we have because we see the great needs that our NGOs seek to meet and the immense suffering we seek to alleviate. And while we encounter and adapt to seemingly countless external challenges that are outside our control, we can significantly improve our performance by innovating to create new and develop better ways of working – better processes. Led by Toyota, private sector companies have developed and refined “Lean” concepts and tools to empower employees to continuously improve performance by solving problems.

A few NGOs have also begun to pursue Process Excellence and make significant improvements to their process, thereby increasing their performance.

Erick Gesure, a Finance Officer in the World Vision East Africa Regional Office, streamlined his daily finance tasks so that he finished his work typically between 1 and 2pm, rather than between 6 and 7pm. This gave him great personal satisfaction and enabled him to take on interesting projects to further improve Finance operations.

Tom Russell, WASH Advisor in Medair DR Congo, modified an Excel workbook to reduce the time to determine materials needed and costs for WASH interventions from 7 days to 7 minutes. While not everyone I train achieves such spectacular results as these two, I have seen and heard many stories of small and big improvements from people who have learned and applied the basic concepts and tools of Lean and process improvement.

The empowerment of people, the reduction of administrative burden and the increased impact or our work inspire me to teach, coach, facilitate and promote process improvement in NGOs for the past 15 years. I am eager to collaborate with others who want to explore what this can look like.

Andrew Parris, PhD and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt; Process Excellence Manager at Medair

Ruth Faber

3 February 2023

CEO & Senior Leaders, Learning Space
Highlights of the Autumn General Assembly

We like getting together so much that our CEOs and Senior Leaders commit to meeting in person twice a year. In 2022, we decided to align the General Assembly meeting with the physical meeting of our programme portfolio groups.

As a result, in November 2022, EU-CORD official representatives and members of the Faith in Action programme met at Canterbury Cathedral hosted by MAF International.

Over the course of 2-days, we had opportunities for input, reflection, and application.

The first day of the gathering focussed on input. We met with representatives from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to discuss the UK’s international development strategy and implications for our members (most of whom are not UK-based).

In the afternoon, we gave free rein to humanitarian thinker Hugo Slim to present three big ideas that are going to impact the humanitarian and development landscape – and what faith-based organisations can do about it. It was a great session and many dinner conversations continued the reflection.

In the governance session, we welcomed Markus Ask (LM International) and Gladstone Worthington (Leprosy Mission International) onto EU-CORD’s executive board known as the ‘Administrative Council,’ replacing Irén Frändåf and David Verboom who were thanked for their service.

2022 is also the first year of implementation of our 2022+ strategy. The year is not over yet, so a little early for a full report, but thanks to member and secretariat enthusiasm and drive, we are on track to achieve all our big 2022 priorities and many of the smaller ones! We re-iterated our intention to retain the In-Country Forums as a priority area for 2022 and to start work on our climate cross-cutting objective.

We also took time in the governance session to recommit and increase engagement in the PaRD Network: International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development. PaRD brings together governmental and intergovernmental entities with diverse civil society organisations (CSOs) and faith-based organisations (FBOs), to engage the social capital and capacities vested in diverse faith communities for sustainable development and humanitarian assistance in the spirit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

After the meeting, and before dinner, we were also able to fit in a tour of the Cathedral and participate in Evensong (which was a first for many participants).

The following day, Cord CEO Andy Pask and EU-CORD vice-Chair led us in the ‘application day.’ The programme looks largely unstructured, but we’ve learned that we need time to reconnect with each other on a personal level and to have time to reflect on input received the previous day – without the constraints of a detailed agenda. Discussion focussed on both the In-Country Forums and how we anticipate developing our climate-related work in 2023.

Spring 2023 General Assembly

Our next gathering will take place in Brussels in April 2023 where the General Assembly will be held alongside the physical gathering of our Funding and Partnerships group. This will be an important step to share plans for the continued development of EU-CORD In-Country forums as well as an opportunity for the funding and partnerships group to convey to the CEO’s challenges faced in the changing funding and partnership landscape.

Ruth Faber

28 November 2022

CEO & Senior Leaders