VOICE General Assembly 2026
The VOICE General Assembly 2026 took place in Brussels on 16 June, bringing members together to reflect on the state of humanitarian action and collective priorities.
During the day, members exchanged views with DG ECHO Director-General Maciej Popowski and the Irish COHAFA Representative Niall Cremen, and discussed the future role of EU humanitarian action with Sara Pantuliano (ODI Global) and Lisa Musiol (International Crisis Group).
We are delighted to share that the VOICE network continues to grow, bringing together an even broader range of humanitarian expertise and perspectives from across Europe. We are pleased to welcome four new organisations to the VOICE network: ADRA Sweden, Christian Blind Mission (cbm), ChildFund Germany, and HEKS EPER Romania. We look forward to working together to advance principled humanitarian action, strengthen humanitarian policy and practice, and amplify the collective voice of NGOs at the European level. With these new additions, and with Romania now joining the countries represented in our membership, VOICE now brings together 94 organisations from 19 countries. VOICE’s growing network strengthens our ability to exchange knowledge, good practices, and field-based perspectives, while advocating for effective, principled, and people-centred humanitarian action.
The Assembly also marked a transition in VOICE's governance, with members electing a new Board and thanking five outgoing Board members. We said farewell to and thank five Board members for their dedication and support to the VOICE network:
Jean-Pierre Delomier, Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion
Michael Kuehn, Welthungerhilfe
Fie Lauritzen, Danish Refugee Council / Dansk Flygtningehjælp
Silvia Sinibaldi, Caritas Italiana
Ruth Faber, EU-CORD network
Their commitment has helped shape VOICE’s work and strengthen our network over the past years. Their contributions will be greatly missed.
At the same time, the GA gave VOICE members the opportunity to elect five new Board members. We are happy to introduce to you the new members of the Board:
Tina Breum Mariegaard, Folkekirkens Nødhjælp (DanChurchAid)
Peter Doyle, Concern Worldwide
Pilar Martinez Sanchez, Médecins du Monde Belgique - Dokters van de Wereld België
Rafael de Prado Pérez, Acción contra el Hambre
Marek Stys, People in Need
Congratulations to all! The Board of Directors plays a key role in shaping VOICE’s direction and priorities, and we look forward to working with the new leadership chosen by our members.
Maria Groenewald Pauline Chetcuti
A big thank you to all participants for making the VOICE GA 2026 a big success, and congratulations to our newly elected Board members and newest member organisations!
To see more from the GA, please check our LinkedIn and Instagram, where we shared several posts about the event.
