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Image from the official website of ICVA and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Switzerland License.
Geneva, Switzerland – Representing Good Neighbors, Dr. Ha Eun Marcellino Seong was elected as one of the nine board members of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) during its 19th General Assembly held on March 20, 2024.
Established in 1962, ICVA is a global network of non-governmental organizations active in 160 countries, operating at global, regional, national, and local levels. Its primary mission is to make humanitarian actions more principled and effective by working collectively and independently to influence policy and practice. Good Neighbors has been a member organization of the ICVA network since 2018.
As a newly elected board member, Dr. Seong will focus on expanding humanitarian space in Northeast Asia. One of the most critical challenges in the humanitarian sector is the shrinking of humanitarian spaces, despite increasing refugee crises, which hinders the provision of services for those most vulnerable and in desperate need. To address these challenges, he has constantly engaged with humanitarian actors in this region, including governments, international agencies, and civil society networks.
“Expanding humanitarian space aligns closely with Good Neighbors’ mission and values, which are to assist those in need regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or religion. As a relief and development worker from East Asia, expanding the humanitarian space in this region has become a life goal for me,” Dr. Marcellino emphasized.
In his role on the ICVA board, Dr. Seong is expected to amplify the voices from the Asia-Pacific region on the global stage of humanitarian aid. He aims to involve more civil societies from this region, fostering localization and promoting diversity and inclusivity within the global civil society.
Dr. Seong, representative of Good Neighbors UN Cooperation Office in Geneva, has 20 years career in international humanitarian, development, and human rights action with extensive experience in both international advocacy with UN and government actors, as well as field level support through capacity building and partnership development for national partners.
Since joining Good Neighbors in 2008, he has been actively engaged in global advocacy efforts, sharing Good Neighbors’ best practices with international actors and participating in the discussions to influence policy-making. Notably, he has contributed to the development of climate change policy, the operationalization of HDP nexus for forcibly displaced persons, and the mainstreaming of the human rights-based approach within the organization.
Good Neighbors UN Cooperation Office was founded in Geneva in 2008 to represent Good Neighbors to the UN organizations and other international stakeholders, including UNHCR, UN Human Rights Council, WFP, and ICVA (International Council of Voluntary Agencies). It provides support to the Global Partnership Center and Good Neighbors’ partners through policy research and strategy development in line with emerging global humanitarian and development norms. It also contributes to the capacity building of Good Neighbors Partnership Countries in the area of UN Partnership, Human Rights Based Approach, and Refugee Programs.
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