wfn.org | World Service to Become Special Program within LWF Geneva Secretariat

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Independent Budget, New Lines of Responsibility Planned

Geneva, 26 July 2001 (LWI) - The Council of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) at its 12-19 June meeting in Chavannes-de-Bogis near
here, has agreed to the proposal by the Standing Committee for World
Service to restructure the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) as a
special program within the LWF Geneva secretariat. The intention is to
improve managerial and structural conditions for DWS work.

According to a Capacity Assessment Report on its effectiveness and
efficiency, the DWS should be differently organized. The report, carried
out by an international consultancy group, says the emergencies and
development service should be given more independence and faster
decision-making channels. The DWS should have a distinct, but not
separate, identity and an executive director with full managerial
authority.

To guarantee its financial independence, the DWS will have its own
budget, separate from the LWF budget. The DWS budget totals USD 90
million, which supports emergency, refugee and reconstruction projects
in 28 countries and constitutes about 84 percent of total LWF
expenditure.

The department's decision-making on personnel resources and training
also will function more independently. The Standing Committee for World
Service, chaired by Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumari of the Arcot Lutheran
Church, India, will oversee the work of this special program in its
entirety, and report directly to the LWF Council. The DWS director will
continue to report to the Standing Committee in the first instance.

The restructuring is to take place in such a way that the changes can be
made within the framework of the current LWF Constitution, and links and
good communication with the LWF General Secretariat and other LWF
departments will be retained.

A further suggestion from the consultancy group's report, with which the
Standing Committee and LWF Council agree, concerns the development of
strategic planning for DWS' future. It calls for priorities to be set
for the next five years. The DWS also plans to adhere to the report's
suggestion of always working toward more intensive cooperation with
partner organizations in needy countries, thereby redefining the focus
of its operations.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133 member
churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the 64.3
million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical relations,
theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the
various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is
located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material
presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its
various units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation
(LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgement.]

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