Sonja Hoevelmann is Research Lead at the Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA). She works on German humanitarian action and the Shrinking Humanitarian Space. Her research interests include the humanitarian system, German humanitarian assistance, education in emergencies, and normative changes in the humanitarian sector.

Prior to joining CHA, she worked as a program officer for quality management at Caritas Germany (Caritas international), where she contributed to effective knowledge management and safeguarding. She also contributed to the professionalisation of aspiring humanitarians by coordinating the Joint Master Programme in Humanitarian Action (NOHA) at the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict. Sonja has taught in seminars and summer schools on international relations and humanitarian action at the Ruhr-University Bochum and the University of Tübingen.

Sonja holds a master’s degree in social science from the Ruhr-University in Bochum. Her international experiences and field research include India, Belarus, Lebanon and Pakistan.

Sonja speaks English and German.

Think Tank School Policy project: Identifying leeway for Germany's role in humanitarian reform processes

(As of September 2025)