LWF staff explains where they can help to migrants from Venezuela. The map of the Arauca Casanare protection route was developed by LWF Colombia in Venezuela with support from the Swiss Embassy. Photo: LWF/ Lorena Acevedo
On World Humanitarian Day, LWF General Secretary praises staff for commitment and service
(LWI) - On World Humanitarian Day, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) honors its over 7,000 field staff working in humanitarian operations worldwide. In a letter to staff in the LWF country programs, General Secretary Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt praises the quality of their work, and their commitment to serve the most vulnerable people and communities.
The theme for this year’s World Humanitarian Day is #ActForHumanity, focusing on addressing the alarming rise in attacks against humanitarian workers and other civilians caught up in conflict. The annual observance on 19 August recalls the bombing in 2003 of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which resulted in the death of 22 people, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Everywhere I visited, I witnessed vibrant and impactful work.
Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt, LWF General Secretary
In her letter, the LWF General Secretary notes some of the many challenges that staff face in their daily work: "You work during droughts and floods, after earthquakes and tropical storms, even when your own communities have been affected. You work when warnings of air raids can be heard several times a day, you work when it is dangerous to leave the compound because of street crime, when authorities and communities need much convincing to grant you access to help people. And you spend long hours maneuvering impassable roads and navigating bureaucratic labyrinths,” she writes.
Burghardt also recalls her visits to some of the LWF country programs in the past years. “Everywhere I visited, I witnessed vibrant and impactful work. More importantly, I saw staff deeply committed to serving people with dignity, providing hope for the future,” she adds.
Striving for just and peaceful societies
In 2023, LWF World Service worked through 18 country programs in 26 countries worldwide. Among them are many extremely challenging contexts, such as Myanmar, Haiti, Venezuela, South Sudan, Palestine and Ukraine. Currently World Service is present in 25 countries, serving more than 2.6 million people affected by natural disaster and armed conflict.
In her letter, Burghardt notes that since its foundation in 1947, one of the LWF’s founding pillars has been service to people in need. “Each one of you is integral to this mission. Your work matters, you deliver, and I am proud that we are colleagues.” the LWF General Secretary concludes. “May you be blessed in your work, so that it may be a blessing to those we are called to serve and may we all strive for just and peaceful societies united in diversity.”
2024 on track to be deadliest year for aid workers
In a related initiative, the LWF has added its voice to an international appeal to UN member states to protect humanitarian aid workers and to hold to account those responsible for attacks on civilians.
The LWF is among 413 humanitarian organizations that have signed a letter reminding states of their moral and legal obligations to protect civilians and aid workers in conflict. The letter is part of a global campaign spearheaded by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to mark World Humanitarian Day, noting that 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for aid workers. The toll in 2024, the letter warns, "is already staggering.”
