General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Geneva, Rev. Dr Martin Junge is scheduled to visit Nepal in the second week of September.

Rev. Dr Junge will be in Nepal from 12-19 September, 2018. The objectives of his visit are learning and sharing of humanitarian and development works in Nepal carried out by LWF Nepal. The key element of this trip is to watch the activities conducted by LWF Nepal closely and to maintain a positive relationship with the government and other concerned stakeholders.

Rev. Dr Junge will be meeting high level government dignitaries, government officials, representatives of humanitarian and development organizations, implementing partners, community people, journalists and other stakeholders. He will also observe field work carried out by LWF Nepal and its implementing partners in Jhapa, Morang and Kavre district. In addition, Rev. Dr Junge will be visiting the earthquake and flood affected areas.

Rev. Dr Junge will also be visiting Nepal Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC) in Morang. LWF Nepal works closely with NELC and its diaconal arm – Lutheran Community Welfare Society in their capacity building and the upliftment of poor and oppressed.

Dr Prabin Manandhar, Country Director, LWF Nepal said “We are honored and encouraged to welcome Rev. Dr Martin Junge and show him the areas LWF Nepal has been working. We believe his visit will strengthen the partnership with Nepal.”

Rev. Dr Junge will be accompanied by Rev. Dr Philip Lok Oi Peng, Area Secretary for Asia Department for Mission and Development and Mr Allan Calma, Regional Program Coordinator.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Nepal, a country program of the LWF World Service (WS), has been working with marginalized and disadvantaged communities of Nepal since 1984 on Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Preparedness and Response; Sustainable Livelihoods, and Community-led Actions for Governance and Justice. Its core commitments are Human Rights; Impartiality; Inclusion and Participation; Accountability; Gender Justice and Climate Justice; and Environmental Sustainability.

Bio of Rev. Dr. Martin Junge:

Rev. Dr Martin Junge is the first Latin American general secretary of The Lutheran World Federation. He was elected by the LWF Council in 2009 and assumed office on 1 November 2010. Rev. Dr Junge was born in Chile in 1961 and completed his primary and secondary education in Concepción. He studied evangelical theology at Georg August University in Göttingen, Germany, from 1980 to 1986.

In 1996, Rev. Dr Junge was elected president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile. One of his most significant achievements was to stabilize the church after a leadership crisis. As LWF Area Secretary, Rev. Dr Junge took up the crucial issues of neoliberal globalization and illegitimate external debt. He was instrumental in the publication of a seminal work in 2008 titled ‘Not Just Numbers – Examining the Legitimacy of Foreign Debts’ (LWF Documentation 53) that was presented at the International Symposium on Illegitimate Debt held in Oslo, Norway, in October 2008.