EU-CORD network

What happens when 26 European Christian organisations come together to lead, reflect, and shape the future of their shared work? This week our members gathered in Berlin for the CEO & Senior Leaders Forum and the Advocacy Forum, dedicated spaces for connection, reflection, and collective action. The CEO & Senior Leaders Forum offered space for honest dialogue, prayer, and strategic reflection. Leaders revisited network priorities, governance, and emerging ways of working while exploring what it means to remain faith-based in a rapidly changing world. We were also privileged to hear from PIRON Global and INTEGRAL ALLIANCE. In parallel, the Advocacy Forum brought together members to re-strategise around collective advocacy. Participants shared insights on inclusive approaches and reflected on EU policy developments and global political shifts, with inspiring contributions from Birgit Frank (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) ), Michael Herbst (CBM Christian Blind Mission) and Åsa Månsson (VENRO) A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated, led, and facilitated sessions and a special thanks to Tearfund Deutschland e.V. , Medair and International Justice Mission Deutschland for your warm hospitality. We leave Berlin encouraged and hopeful for 2026! Strengthened by the connections that make our network more united, collaborative, and ready to drive meaningful impact together. Red een Kind | PMU Interlife | ZOA | Tearfund Deutschland e.V. Tearfund | Tearfund Nederland | Fida International | The Leprosy Mission International | Läkarmissionen / LM International | Mission East |Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. | Strømme Foundation | Woord en Daad | SeeYou Foundation

One day to go! ⏰ Tomorrow, CONCORD’s #AidWatch2025 report launches, marking 20 years of AidWatch, two decades of civil society tracking, analysing, and advocating for effective, transparent, and impactful ODA. 🔸 Since the first AidWatch report 20 years ago, ODA has contributed to global health, poverty reduction, education, governance, and climate resilience in partner countries. 🔸 But progress is now at risk. After five years of growth, ODA budgets are shrinking as donors’ short-term interests take precedence. 🔸 Inflated figures and misreporting continue to undermine ODA’s credibility and distort its real impact. #AidWatch2025 calls for bold reforms to restore ODA’s integrity and ensure it truly supports Least Developed Countries and sectors vital to inclusive human development. 📊 Stay tuned for the full report coming tomorrow!

🌍 Connecting EU-CORD Members in Kenya Today, our Advocacy Manager Dr. Tabeth Masengu had the pleasure of meeting with Fida International, Läkarmissionen / LM International, Dorcas, Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. and Help a Child International, members of our Kenya In-Country Forum, while they were in Kenya. 🤝 It was a fantastic opportunity to exchange ideas, explore ways to collaborate, and strengthen connections for greater impact. These discussions are about sharing knowledge, learning from each other’s experiences, and shaping EU-CORD’s advocacy and partnerships back in Brussels. By connecting insights from different countries with international strategies, our global network continues to drive meaningful change worldwide. 🌐 Collaboration across borders is at the heart of what we do, and meetings like this make it tangible. #EUCORD #GlobalPartnerships #Collaboration #Impact #Development

How do we walk together to create lasting impact? Walking Together in Hope: Day 4 of #MGC2025 ✨ Day 4 at Micah Chapel explored funding, partnerships, and storytelling as essential tools for sustaining impact. Participants shared thematic group feedback and joined a panel on networking, partnerships, and collaboration, hosted by Phil Wilkerson, highlighting practical ways to walk together in hope. We reflected on Walking Together in Hope, demonstrating the power of faith, collaboration, and shared purpose. Sticky-note reflections from earlier in the week encouraged participants to consider how God has been moving over the decades and how networks and partnerships can flourish. Day 4 was a powerful reminder that walking together in hope means listening, learning, and creating shared stories of change. #walkingtogetherinhope #MGC2025 #MicahGlobal Micah Global

What happens when faith, hope, and action come together? 🌟 Day 3 of #MicahGlobal at #MGC2025 showed us! We reflected with Susan Nyaga and Eu-Lee Chng, gathered in Micah Chapel, and explored collaboration and hope while discerning God’s work in our communities through other session. Dr. Tabeth Masengu presented on contextualizing advocacy, emphasizing the importance of rooting action in social, economic, and environmental realities. As she put it, “If you think it works together, how do we bring people to the table AND to the kitchen?” The afternoon included listening to Scripture, panel discussions on new imagination, reflection and prayer. All sparking ideas we will bring back to Brussels for meaningful action.💡💚 #WalkingTogetherInHope #MicahGlobal #MGC2025 Micah Global

On Day 2 of #MGC2025, Dr. Tabeth Masengu joined the Advocacy Track on a pilgrimage tour exploring how faith communities resist erasure and reclaim memory. At Ndabeni and Langa, she learned about the displacement of indigenous people, who were wrongly blamed for the bubonic plague, and how Langa became the first place Africans could legally buy land. In District 6, Reverend René August showed how St Mark’s Church resisted removal through prayer and the “Hands Off District 6” campaign. Faith became a source of presence and protection, creating life-giving alternatives in the face of injustice. Tabeth also visited Eziko Cooking School, founded 30 years ago in 16 shipping containers with 14 students paying no fees. Today, it trains 30 students, offers job shadowing at Southern Sun, and sees 80 % of graduates employed or running their own businesses. Eziko demonstrates how communities continue to resist poverty narratives and invest in hope, skills, and opportunity. On Day 2, Tabeth reflected: resistance is not just protest: It is memory, presence, and creating life-giving alternatives together. #walkingtogetherinhope #MGC2025 #MicahGlobal Micah Global

Can two people walk together without agreeing? After many conversations, dialogue and sharing at the #MGC2025 , this question has stayed with us. As Christina Macmillan reflected during one of the sessions, partnership is not about thinking the same. It is about walking side by side with humility, respect, and the courage to keep moving forward even when perspectives differ. It is about listening, learning from each other, and honouring local agency and expertise. In a world often shaped by division and hierarchical assumptions, this reminds us that true collaboration values diversity, shared power, and mutual accountability. Unity of purpose matters more than uniformity of thought. What might walking together look like in your own context, even when agreement is not complete? #MicahGlobal #walkingtogetherinhope Micah Global

Our team has made it to Cape Town 🇿🇦for the Micah Global Consultation 2025! Over the next four days we will engage in prayerfull dialogue on justice, leadership, advocacy and Christian hope alsongside global faith-based partners. Stay tuned for more updates! ✨🫱🏾🫲🏿 Micah Global #MGC2025 #MicahGlobal #walkingtogetherinhope

Part two of our introductions is here 💙 Meet Dr. Tabeth Masengu, the other half of our secretariat team! Together with Ruth Faber, she keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes and at the heart of our work. Now that you’ve met both of us, you know the full secretariat team supporting EU-CORD 👀✨ What would you like to ask Tabeth about her role and work with EU-CORD? Share your questions below ⬇️

We’re excited to launch our secretariat team on Instagram! 💙 To kick things off, we created a short, fun video introducing one of our team members. Even though our team is small, the heart we put into our work is big. Meet Ruth Faber, our CEO, in part one of the video, and stay tuned for part two to meet Dr. Tabeth Masengu, the other half of our secretariat team, and see more of the people behind the work that keeps everything running smoothly. Follow us on Instagram "@eu.cord" to join the journey and get a closer look behind the scenes. If you could ask Ruth one question about our work, what would it be? We’d love to hear your thoughts! 👀