The Lutheran World Federation

We invite you to view the Lutheran World Federation Jerusalem Program 2011 Annual Report.

In 2011, the LWF Jerusalem Program continued its service for peace by providing healthcare and economic opportunities to the most vulnerable in Palestinian society. During a year when many eyes have turned to Palestinian efforts on the international stage, such as at the United Nations, the LWF Jerusalem Program continued to maintain cutting-edge institutions which will be vital for an emerging state.

Through articles and photographs, the 2011 report tells the story of the LWF Jerusalem Program’s ministries: Augusta Victoria Hospital, the Vocational Training Program, the Scholarship Program, material aid distribution, the LWF Olive Oil from the Mount of Olives, and more.

Many thanks go to all partners and supporters who assisted the LWF in strengthening its institution building work in 2011.

View the 2011 Annual Report (PDF).

If you would like a print copy, please send your full name and mailing address to info@lwfjerusalem.org.

Mrs. Ban Soon-taek, wife of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, visited the Lutheran World Federation’s campus in East Jerusalem on February 2, 2012.  Mrs. Ban, who has for many years devoted her attention to women’s and children’s health, was accompanied by Mr. Felipe Sanchez, Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Operations in the West Bank.

Dr. Tawfiq Nasser, CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), and Rev. Mark Brown, the Regional Representative of the Lutheran World Federation in Jerusalem and the Middle East, received the guests and spoke about the historic relationship between AVH and UNRWA, as well as present day issues of access to healthcare facing Palestinians.

The LWF began working with UNRWA and the International Committee of the Red Cross more than sixty years ago in order to establish Augusta Victoria as a hospital for refugees. With significant support from UNRWA, AVH became the largest hospital in the area and played a key role in the provision of secondary healthcare to Palestinian refugees after the 1948 war.

Today, AVH is a leading specialty hospital in East Jerusalem and continues to serve Palestinian refugees in this capacity.  The AVH Cancer Care Center is the only facility in the West Bank and Gaza where Palestinians can receive radiation treatment.   Many referrals come directly from the all-female team of Palestinian physicians, nurses and technicians that staff the hospital’s Mobile Mammography Unit, which strives to identify women with breast cancer at an early stage.

LWF Values of Accountability and Transparency Underlined

GENEVA, 17 January 2012 (LWI) – Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge has called the certification of the LWF by a global quality assurance body a milestone for the communion of churches.

Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) International announced on 17 January that the LWF had achieved certification against its 2010 Standards in Accountability and Quality Management, which seek to ensure that the power of humanitarian actors is exercised responsibly with regards to disaster-affected communities.

“The certification underlines the LWF’s commitment to the values of accountability and transparency as expressed in the LWF Strategy 2012-2017,” Junge said. “At the same time it deepens the notion of accountability by providing a strong focus to the people the LWF works with.”

The certification by the humanitarian community’s foremost independent self-regulatory body covers all activities–including advocacy, development work and emergency preparedness and response–implemented by the LWF’s Department for World Service (DWS). It follows audits of DWS Geneva in November 2011 and DWS Nepal in December 2011, and is valid for three years.

Members of the Gaurishankar Women Cooperative formed by LWF Nepal in Ramechham district. The successful audit of the LWF/DWS country program in Nepal was an important step to HAP certification. © LWF Nepal

The multi-agency initiative noted that only two corrective actions were needed and affirmed “the dedication and hard work of [LWF] management and staff” which had made possible “this major achievement.”

DWS Director Rev. Eberhard Hitzler said the HAP certification offered an external confirmation that the LWF is serving people in need in the best possible way by putting them at the center of its actions.

“The HAP certification has motivated all of us to constantly reflect and improve our strategy and action to ensure that people in need are accompanied and their rights respected and upheld,” he commented.

“We are committed to meet the highest standards for transparency in humanitarian aid also in the future,” Hitzler added and underlined the contribution of DWS international and local staff to establishing well-functioning programs and management systems.

Maryssa Camaddo, LWF/DWS Program Officer for Quality and Accountability, noted that the HAP certification process had been a learning process.

“Being accountable to the people we work with helps develop quality programs that meet the people’s rights and needs, and reduces the possibility of any abuse or corruption,” said Camaddo, who coordinates the department’s efforts to ensure accountability in its systems and practices.

“Accountability processes that are managed effectively help organizations to perform better,” she added.

Junge said he looks forward to continuing to take lessons from the certification process to the whole of the LWF. “This certification process has actually assisted us in expressing anew the important Lutheran insight of the accountability to the neighbor as an expression of faithfulness to God.”

http://lwfworldservice.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/lwf-department-for-world-service-dws-certification-shows-people-at-center-of-humanitarian-response/

On Sunday evening, 13 November 2011, the East Jerusalem Conference 2011 of the International Network of Leaders in Faith Based Health Care opened at the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) on the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Jerusalem campus on the Mount of Olives.

Rev. Mark Brown, Regional Representative for the LWF in Jerusalem, set the context for the conference with a summary of the history of the LWF work in healthcare in the region and reflections on the AVH mission and its continued commitment to caring for the whole person.

Bishop Dr. Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), who also serves as Chair of the AVH Board of Governance and President of the LWF, further elaborated on context and identity by delving into a Lutheran theological and diaconal understanding of the Church’s call in relation to health and wellness.

Referring to Martin Luther’s November 1527 response entitled “Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague,” Younan approached the role of the church in holistic healthcare from a “theology of neighborliness” and Jesus’ call to pastors and leaders to be as shepherds who are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep (John 10:11).

Younan further expanded on the diaconal roots of the ELCJHL that go back to 1851 and the arrival of four Daconesses from Kaiserwerth, Germany, and their mission to begin a school for the uplifting of young girls name Talitha Kumi.

Keynote Speaker Dr. Beate Jakob, from the German Institute for Medical Mission (DIFAEM) in Tübingen, Germany, provided an entry point for further discussion, raising questions of the role of the church in the field of health, the Christian understanding of health and its implications for a greater understanding of healing, and Christian health service examples from both the Global South and the Global North.

Under the motto of Faith in Leadership, the conference will continue through 16 November with a focus on the challenges of Context, Identity and Innovation. The conference includes global keynote presentations on the individual themes, multi-faith witness and worship. Subcategories of the conference will include streams on “Faith Base, Values, Diaconal Identity and Religious Health Assets;” and “Leadership and Capacity Building.”

This conference brings together praticipants gathered from around the world, including Germany, Great Britain, India, Mozambique, Norway, Palestine, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United States of America, and Zambia.

The Faith Based Health Care Network was founded on 3 November 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia as “a network of leaders in Faith-based healthcare focusing on local expressions of practice.” The network brings together many different types of actors and organizations for the purpose of mutual support and inspiration.

To view more photos from the opening session and reception, click here or on the photo above. To learn more about the conference, or the Faith Based Health Care Network, click here to visit the conference website. To learn more about the AVH and the regional work of the LWF, click here.

(Article posted 14 November 2011 on the ELCJHL website: http://www.elcjhl.org/news/2011/2011.11_november.asp#healthcare)