Organisation
Caritas Europa
Position
Secretary General
Biography
Maria Nyman is Secretary General of Caritas Europa, one of the seven regions of Caritas Internationalis, the global confederation of Catholic charity organisations. She assumed the position in May 2019, having been elected a year earlier by the network of 49 member organisations, which works with and for people in the most marginalised and vulnerable situations in 46 countries in Europe. Based in Brussels, the Caritas Europa secretariat conducts advocacy at the European and international level, supports capacity building for the network and coordinates humanitarian support when an emergency hits Europe. Between 2012 and 2019, she was Director of Mental Health Europe, the European network advocating for social inclusion and the protection of the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities. Previously, she was Policy Officer and Campaign Manager at the European Disability Forum. She has a Master’s in Law from the University of Uppsala in Sweden. She moved to Belgium from Sweden in 2004. She is married with five children.
Speaking in:
#EUSocialForum 2026: Can Europe deliver on its 2030 promise?