Policy Updates

On October, 16, 2023, the BMZ co-hosted the GFF replenishment round as part of WHS 2023 in Berlin and raised a total of US$445 million based on a goal of $800 million, of which Germany pledged EUR25 million (US$26 million).

German Development Minister Svenja Schulze highlighted that the GFF is a key partner in advancing women's rights, MNCH, and SRHR. She committed to continuing the campaign to advocate for sufficient financing for GFF.

The GFF's flagship Deliver the Future initiative had a stated goal to raise US$800 million to improve the health and rights of 250 million women and children. The campaign for additional financing for the GFF started in June 2023, when a post-pandemic funding gap for women's health, MNCH, and SRHR first became apparent. The pledging event fell US$355 million short of its goal, raising concerns about the initiative's ability to meet its support and development targets. Further investment towards the goal is expected in 2024.

Germany's contribution amounted to EUR25 million (US$26 million), in line with previous annual commitments since 2020. Critics from the DSW, Global Citizen, Save the Children Deutschland and World Vision Deutschland previously advocated strongly for a German commitment of EUR100 million (US$106 million) to the GFF, asserting that a small contribution would hurt Germany's reputation as co-host.

On July 12, 2023, the BMZ presented its position paper on strengthening regional cooperation with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The position paper outlined three primary goals:

1. Ensuring a fair transition to a climate-neutral economy by promoting renewable energy, particularly through climate and development partnerships, creating employment and education opportunities, and ensuring social protection;
2. Fostering good governance, peace, and democracy, particularly through supporting human rights protection, combating corruption, promoting governance standards, countering armed conflicts, and supporting refugees and internally displaced persons; and
3. Implementing a feminist development policy by promoting access to rights, resources, and economic participation, particularly for women, girls, LGBTQ+ persons, and marginalized groups such as indigenous communities, as well as strengthening feminist initiatives in politics and civil society.

Specifically, the paper described cooperation with six partner countries:

• Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia were listed as bilateral partner countries with whom the BMZ pursues long-term development goals; and
• Brazil, Mexico, and Peru were classified as Global Partners, with whom the BMZ seeks to develop joint solutions to global challenges such as the climate crisis.

The paper also described more general BMZ collaboration with all countries in the region on regional, global, and multilateral projects, as well as non-governmental development cooperation initiatives.

On July 10, 2023, German development minister Svenja Schulze took over the Presidency of the Sahel Alliance from Spain.

Schulze outlined three priorities for her presidency:

1. Creating paths out of the crisis by offering more education, training, and employment;
2. Making societies more resilient through social protection and long-term solutions for food security that go beyond emergency relief; and
3. Recovering areas that the government has lost control over and providing people with basic services.
   
   Schulze emphasized the empowerment of girls and women, who are often main income-earners and can significantly impact regional development.
   
   With over EUR28 billion (US$31 billion) in support for initiatives, the Sahel Alliance is the region's biggest alliance of international supporters.

On June 29, 2023, the GFF announced that the Netherlands, Germany, Ivory Coast, and World Bank are co-hosting the ‘Deliver the Future’ campaign to raise US$800 million by the end of 2023 to invest in the health and rights of women, children, and adolescents in LICs.

According to the GFF more than 60 countries, including 35 out of 36 partner countries, are off track to meet the SDG health targets for maternal, newborn, and stillborn mortality by 2030, which could cost almost 8 million lives.

Donors have donated US$2 billion since 2015, which has allowed the GFF to unlock US$32 billion for women, children, and adolescent health. For example the GFF have provided more than 500 million women with access to modern family planning, and ensured 103 million women delivered their babies safely.

The additional investment of US$800 million was projected to help the organization reach another 250 million women, children, and adolescents.

German development minister Svenja Schulze took part in the G20 development ministers' meeting in Varanasi, India, from June 11-12, 2023, where the G20 development ministers identified three key priorities for achieving the SDGs.

One of the three approaches emphasized gender equality and increasing greater social diversity. Schulze highlighted that sustainable development cannot be achieved without gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

The other two approaches included harnessing the opportunities of digitization for development and organizing the transition to a climate-compatible global economy in a socially just way.

The G20 development ministers also discussed the proposal to include the AU as the 21^st member of the G20, which met with broad consensus.

On June 9, 2023, during intergovernmental negotiations in Berlin, the BMZ and representatives of the Namibian government agreed to provide EUR52 million (US$56 million) for closer cooperation in the area of urban development.

The funding was announced to support the planned green hydrogen production plant in Lüderitz, which is expected to attract a large number of employees in the industrial and service sector. To ensure that rapid growth does not lead to uncontrolled urban sprawl, the BMZ allocated funding to support Lüderitz in climate-neutral and participatory urban planning.

The announcement also outlined plans to expand vocational training in order to meet the growing demand for skilled workers and promote the participation of women and girls and the consideration of their interest in the project planning.

On May 24, 2023, Civil Society 7 released its review of the May 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit.

The report looked at six topics, including the nuclear disarmament, climate and environmental justice, the transition to a fair economy, global health, humanitarian aid and conflict, and a resilient and open society, and presented the following findings:

• Nuclear Disarmament: The G7 summit did not focus on nuclear disarmament, and its leaders did not show any commitment to starting time-bound negotiations. While condemning Russia’s nuclear threats, they justified their own nuclear weapons as being for defense and deterrence;
• Climate and Environmental Justice: The G7 summit acknowledged the need to strengthen adaptation measures, enhance resilience support for vulnerable groups, and increase support to the most vulnerable countries for avoiding, minimizing, and addressing losses and damages. It emphasized the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including non-CO2 gases, and reaffirmed commitment to global methane reduction efforts. However, the report argued that the G7’s approach to climate change, in particular its descriptions of fossil fuels, is far from ideal;
• Transition to a Fair Economy: The G7 summit prioritized “economic security” from its perspective rather than focusing on resolving challenges faced by partner countries. It aimed to decouple supply chains from China, but such decoupling could impose additional burdens on developing countries. The summit lacked strong commitments regarding debt restructuring, international negotiations, and debt cancellation. It also weakened the organization's stance on business and human rights;
• Global Health: The G7 summit fell short of expectations due to time constraints and limitations imposed by Japan. It failed to address intellectual property rights as a key factor in addressing the pandemic and ensuring equitable access to therapeutics. The summit lacked specific commitments, and its focus was more on ordering and reaffirming previous pledges rather than providing the required funding and technological contributions;
• Humanitarian Aid and Conflict: The G7 summit's commitment of US$21 billion in support, with particular focus on addressing food crises and prioritizing education, was welcomed. However, apart from this financial commitment, the summit lacked clear and concrete commitments. It failed to mention the importance of strengthening local leadership and access to humanitarian aid and protection; and
• Resilient and Open Society: The G7 summit did not address the concept of an open society or democracy in its statements. It neglected to discuss civic space and shrinking civil society, and its focus on democracy mainly revolved around countering information warfare. The summit did not address issues like digital space safety, fake news, freedom of expression, or topics covered in previous G7 meetings. The treatment of non-regular immigrants and their dire situations was a significant problem. The summit lacked references to freedom of expression and did not improve citizen participation or support for civil society organizations.

C7 aims to achieve a society envisioned by the SDGs that leaves no one behind, and its criticism of the G7 Hiroshima Summit was presented as a means of holding leaders to account for their role in building a better world.

The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) assembled in Hiroshima from May 19-21, 2023 to discuss a wide range of global issues requiring immediate and long-term attention.

On May 20, 2023, the leaders released a communiqué outlining their commitments to the international community. Among other issues, the communiqué focused on infrastructure, humanitarian crises, climate change, global health, and gender.

Key commitments included:

• Mobilizing up to US$600 billion by 2027 for the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, also known as PGII;
• Investing US$21 billion to address worsening humanitarian crises including the global food crises;
• Pledges to mobilize US$100 billion in climate financing annually from 2020 to 2025 for mitigation actions and transparency on implementation;
• Coordinating efforts to enhance governance for health emergencies, promote sustainable health financing, launch the Pandemic Fund, and support LICs and MICs in implementing health regulations; and
• Strengthening gender equality and the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people through effective, multi-sectorial policies.

The G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023 was held during a tense period for both Europe and Asia. The leaders took a strong stance against further aggression and reconfirmed their commitment to promoting sustainable ODA and international collaboration.

On May 18, 2023, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze met with UN General Secretary António Guterres, his deputy Amina Mohammed and the head of UN Women, Sima Bahous, to discuss the UN's contributions to achieving gender equality.

Part of Germany's strategy on feminist development policy, which was released in March 2023, is to work with and strengthen multilateral organizations to promote gender equality at the international level. Schulze showed support for Guterres' 2021Our Common Agenda initiative, which aims to structurally orient the UN system toward gender quality. The BMZ also provided EUR2 million (US$2 million) support for the Our Common Agenda summit in 2024.

Schulze also highligthed abbr:UN Women as a key player in the UN system to strengthen gender equality and committed an additional EUR7 million (US$8 million) to the organization.

On May 11, 2023, during government negotiations in Berlin, the the Madegascan and German delegations agreed on a stronger cooperation in the area of climate mitigation and fighting energy poverty.

Specifically, the BMZ shared plans to support Madagascar in electrification in rural areas. For this, the BMZ announced funding for expanding renewable energies, in particular solar and hydropower plants. In total, the BMZ committed EUR30 million (US$33 milloin) for these projects.

Additionally, the agreement highlighted support for women, especially through better education and integration into the labor market.