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

With the humanitarian funding gap increasingly widening, it is central to ensure that available financing is flexible. Germany, as the second largest humanitarian donor, is a privotal actor to shape policies of quality funding. Despite impressive changes, Germany has been hesistant to take up a leading role in advancing reform. Being part of the facilitation group on humanitarian reform (Grand Bargain 2.0), Germany is for the next two years in a unique situation to influence policy decisions and change the humanitarian system for the better.

Sonja Hoevelmann is a research fellow at the Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA) e.V.. She works on German humanitarian action and the shrinking humanitarian space.

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. Sonja 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.

She 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.

(As of July 2022)