World Vision International President Leaving Offi...( LOS ANGELES May 2 -- The interna...),Health

LOS ANGELES, May 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The international president of World Vision, the largest Christian humanitarian aid organisation, announced today that he plans to retire from his role in September 2010.

Dean Hirsch, who has served as the organisation's chief executive since 1996, said he was making the announcement now to give sufficient time for a presidential search and transition process.

"While I still love the job," Hirsch, 60, said in a letter to the World Vision International Board, "I feel it is time for a leadership change. As Ecclesiastes tells us, 'there is a time and a season for everything,' including World Vision presidents."

By 2010, Hirsch will have led the relief, development and advocacy organisation longer than anyone since Bob Pierce, who founded World Vision in 1950 to help Korean orphans.

Speaking on behalf of the organisation's 24-member governing body, WVI Board Chair Denis St-Amour praised Hirsch for "extraordinary leadership in challenging times." On Hirsch's watch, he noted that World Vision has seen its revenue grow from $550 million to $2.4 billion, has made public advocacy an integral part of its work, and mounted major campaigns to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Asian tsunami, child malnutrition and mortality, and, more recently, the adverse effects that poor communities experience from rising food prices and climate change.

St-Amour said the emphasis of the Hirsch administration on children returned World Vision to its roots and gave focus to its programmes. "Because of Dean," he said, "We are clearly Christ-centred, community-based and child-focused."

Richard E. Stearns, president and CEO of the U.S. office of World Vision, said "After more than 30 years of service, Dean Hirsch's uncompromising commitment to follow Christ and serving the poor, has left a living legacy in the changed lives of millions across the globe."

"Dean Hirsch has champion
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