Germany

Germany is the third largest donor of overall official development assistance (ODA) and is currently the fourth largest donor of humanitarian aid (after the United States, European Institutions and United Kingdom), with expenditure of US$727 million in 2009.

January 2011 marked the inauguration of Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – the result of a major institutional reform process that saw the merger of three technical development cooperation agencies – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GTZ); Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED); and Inwent. The merger is seen as a major step towards aid effectiveness and to reducing parallel structures and the managerial burden on Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)) – the government ministry responsible for formulating and overseeing the country’s development cooperation policy.

BMZ’s strategy prioritises poverty reduction, human rights and climate change, with an emphasis on: good governance; education; health; protection of climate; environment; rural development; private sector development; and sustainable economic development.

Germany is a member of the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) initiative, adhering to its 23 principles and good practice. In 2010 the OECD DAC peer reviewed Germany and an external evaluation of its humanitarian aid is due to be published in early 2012.