Germany's development aid strategy under fire

Berlin: The children's aid organisation Terre des Hommes and the development organisation Welthungerhilfe presented their devastating analysis of Germany's development aid efforts in their annual report, "Kompass 2026," in Berlin earlier this week.

"A failure of political support, a drastic decline in funding and a growing disregard for international humanitarian law are making it harder to reach people in need and are undermining the effectiveness and reliability of humanitarian aid," the report reads.

The budgets of Germany's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and for humanitarian aid have been cut every year since 2022. All in all, funding has been slashed by a third. What remains is about €10 billion ($11 billion) for development aid and €1 billion for humanitarian aid. And funding is set to be cut even further.

The two organisations seem to suggest that development policy — both that of Germany and the international community — has completely lost its way. But Mathias Mogge, head of Welthungerhilfe, said that's not what should be concluded. "What's missing is a real strategy," he said.

Mogge is not impressed with the reform plan presented by Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan in January. He argues that a political plan is only credible if it involves true partnerships between equals — not just rhetoric.

Joshua Hofert, spokesperson for the board of Terre des Hommes, summed up his criticism in a single sentence: "The reform of development policy must not become a mere administrative project led by Berlin."

In their report, the aid organisations have called for greater involvement of civil society actors from the so-called Global South.

"Young people, in particular, must be involved throughout the process of formulating, implementing and evaluating development policy strategies," the report said, emphasising that these perspectives and expertise are crucial to the legitimacy, effectiveness and sustainability of political decisions.

Military spending on the rise everywhere
Germany's massive cuts to development aid are part of a global trend coinciding with an increasing number of wars and crises. Almost all countries are responding in the same way: with ever-higher investments in the military and drastic cuts to global development policy and humanitarian aid.

However, the organisations believe Germany is compromising its credibility and reliability with the significant aid cuts. They are calling on the federal government to better integrate development cooperation, peacekeeping and humanitarian aid and to secure them through multi-year funding.

The report contains numerous recommendations. "The German government should utilize diplomatic channels to protect humanitarian principles and prevent the political instrumentalisation of humanitarian aid. Furthermore, it must advocate more effectively for compliance with international humanitarian law," the report said.

This includes systematically addressing violations of international law in United Nations forums and demanding humanitarian access to crisis areas.