Recently we had the opportunity to sit down with Joern Ziegler, CEO of ChildFund Deutschland (Germany). Joern has been with ChildFund for 17 years, and is a founding member of the Alliance. He is currently co-chair of the CEO Forum, which forms the senior management team of the Alliance. The CEO Forum supports the Secretary General to execute ChildFund Alliance’s strategic plan.

Joern Ziegler has dedicated his life to children. His career has spanned more than 36 years, working with a variety of international and domestic child development and rights organizations. This commitment extends beyond the professional sphere. Together with his wife Susanne, Joern has raised four daughters and a son. They have hosted ten exchange students from around the world. And recently, at an age when many parents are getting ready to end their child-raising years, they have welcomed a new son into their family, having adopted a young refugee from Afghanistan.

(IN GERMAN)

Since 2004, ChildFund Deutschland (Germany) has been working on behalf of children and youth in Ukraine with two partners, Child Wellbeing Fund Ukraine and the East Europe Foundation. 

In 2014, it began providing humanitarian emergency response for internally displaced families and children (IDPs). Today, ChildFund is collaborating with more than half a dozen partner organizations in Ukraine.

Joern studied theology in Göttingen and Heidelberg. He started his professional career working in various roles for the International Society for Human Rights in Frankfurt (1981 - 1990). He continued as a fundraiser for World Vision in Germany (1991-1995) and then as director of social marketing with the Christliches Jugenddorfwerk Deutschlands (1996 - 2000). He joined ChildFund Deutschland in 2001 as managing director and was appointed CEO of the organization in 2007. He served as a director of the ChildFund Alliance from its foundation in 2001 until 2008, and was a member of the Alliance´s Executive Committee from 2005 to 2007.

Joern is married to Susanne; the couple has six children, including an adopted son from Afghanistan.

Nearly 3,000 children and adults with disabilities, and 3,000 family members of children with disabilities in the rural areas of Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Matale, Nuwara Eliya and Puttalam districts in Sri Lanka were reached through the European Union-funded TOGETHER project, which concluded in December 2017. Assistive devices worth 11.7 million rupees (US$184,000) were also provided to children with disabilities. The project was implemented by ChildFund together with its partnering civil society organizations in the five selected districts and by the Department of Social Services.

In Sri Lanka, the TOGETHER project (Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities together to include Children with Disabilities in Sri Lankan Society) has brought together key civil society organizations and local authorities to empower children with disabilities within society.