Dear newsletter subscriber,
last year, Germany quite accidentally became the world’s largest donor of official development assistance (ODA), as US funding cuts caused the country’s ODA payments to fall below Germany’s in the international rankings. Since then, all eyes have been on Germany to see how it will embrace this new role. “Germany is the top donor, now comes the hard part,” Devex wrote in May.
The “top donor” is itself struggling with dwindling support at home. The government has been making significant cuts to the development cooperation budget, and some populist media outlets have picked development projects apart to rage against the entire policy field. No wonder development experts here have been asking themselves how much public support is left for their work at all.
A recent study now offers an answer to that question: in late July, the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) published its biennial public opinion monitor, tracking how Germans feel about development cooperation. The good news: a majority of Germans still view development cooperation – and humanitarian aid in particular – favourably, and they do so mainly for altruistic reasons. Most of them would either maintain or increase the spendings.
However, the study also found that most respondents know very little about development policy; nor is it a spending priority for them. About two-thirds of respondents also have no firm opinion on development cooperation. When people are unsure and know little, their views are easier to sway. False information and arguments like “we simply can’t afford this anymore” land more easily then.
That’s something worth worrying about, since this susceptibility is already being exploited by radical groups: conspiracy theorists, right-wing extremists and pro-Russian actors are deliberately spreading disinformation about development policy. The narrative of a corrupt, wasteful aid industry is sticking – and reaching millions of people.
Here’s the encouraging part, though: apparently, most people in Germany still want to live in a country that supports people in need elsewhere – not only out of self-interest, but out of basic human decency. There’s clearly something to build on there.
Please feel free to share your opinions, criticisms and suggestions by emailing us at euz.editor@dandc.eu. |
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Kind regards,
Eva-Maria Verfürth
editor-in-chief at D+C |
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© picture alliance/dpa / Michael Ukas
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Support for development aid growing again in Germany
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Just over half of the German population either approves of government spending on development cooperation or would even like to see it increased. This is one of the results of the DEval Opinion Monitor. Helge Zille from DEval, the German Institute for Development Evaluation, describes what these results mean for development cooperation in this article. |
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| © picture alliance/Joko/Joko |
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German development cooperation in facts and figures |
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Ending up in the last category means no food at all
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The impact of global aid cuts on the ground can be seen in refugee camps around the world, where the situation is becoming increasingly desperate. In February, journalist Alba Nakuwa reported for D+C on conditions in Kakuma, one of the world’s largest camps located in Northern Kenya. There, the World Food Programme is now categorising people to determine who receives how much – or indeed any – food aid. |
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Our latest Digital Monthly:
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| China on the global stage |
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...and accelerating: according to researchers, sea levels around Africa are rising noticeably faster than the global average of 3.45 millimetres per year. How is that possible? In reality, sea level isn’t as uniform as most people assume. Winds, ocean currents, temperature-driven expansion and contraction, and even differences in Earth’s gravity field create regional “hills and dips” on the ocean surface.
As the consequences of rising sea levels are usually not linear but increase in leaps and bounds once certain thresholds are exceeded, differences of less than 0.1 millimetres in the annual rate of rise can already make a significant difference – particularly when they accumulate over time. The risks are rising in particular for flood-prone cities such as Lagos and Dar es Salaam, as well as for small island states like the Comoros and the Seychelles.
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Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, reports significant progress in the fight against malaria. Since 2024, the alliance has helped 25 African countries to vaccinate more than 50 million children against malaria. At the same time, according to Gavi, early reports from Kenya, Malawi, Ghana and Cameroon show a marked decline in infection cases among vaccinated children.
Over the next five years, the alliance aims to provide malaria vaccines to a further 50 million children. However, this goal is threatened by funding cuts from the US and other donor countries. Gavi also stresses that maintaining momentum is crucial, as the progress achieved is not irreversible – especially as climate change is expanding transmission areas.
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| What has also caught our interest |
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A small mineral slipping through big supply chains
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| Coltan has been used for decades in the manufacture of computers, cars and mobile phones. Its mining is linked to the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the M23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda, has seized mines and is smuggling the ore out of the country. This report by Global Witness traces the journey of coltan – from the mines, across African borders, to everyday mobile devices – and reveals that standards on traceability and due diligence are being breached along the way. Shortcomings in mineral traceability systems, including the ITSCI (the “ITRI Tin Supply Chain Initiative”) and the OECD due diligence guidelines (which smelters worldwide are required to follow), are creating a gap that regulators cannot account for: imports of coltan from Rwanda are rising faster than reported exports, meaning that a significant proportion of the coltan in the global supply chain can no longer be traced. |
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| Anyone who has been complaining about unbearable days in Europe or the US this summer should take a look at India: there, extreme heat is a major factor in exacerbating poverty. An analysis by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) estimates that, by 2024, workers in physically demanding jobs will suffer an average loss of income of 6.6 percent – rising to almost nine percent for those working outdoors. That amounts to around $ 151 a year. Added to this are 21.1 lost working days per year – for many of the country’s approximately 550 million people employed in the informal sector, this is an involuntary break they cannot afford. This Guardian report combines figures with testimonies from construction sites around Delhi: fever, dehydration, exhaustion – and yet they carry on working, because otherwise there’s no money coming in. |
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| EU ties preferential tariffs for developing countries to its migration policy |
According to legal experts, linking tariff preferences for developing countries to a country’s own political interests contradicts WTO law – yet this is exactly what the EU has now decided to do. Developing countries can in future be excluded from tariff preferences if they do not cooperate sufficiently in readmitting their own nationals who are residing “irregularly” in the EU. As Romy Klimke from Business & Law School Berlin explains, this new rule was passed in June with virtually no public notice and will take effect in 2027. It applies to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), through which low- and lower-middle-income countries can export to the EU at reduced tariff rates. The new regulation is part of a broader GSP reform package that also tightened requirements on human rights, labour rights and climate protection.
The proposal to link the GSP to migration policy has been on the table since 2021 and has since been subject to criticism. In 2023, 52 civil society organisations protested against this amendment in an open letter. According to a legal opinion by Geraldo Vidigal of the Amsterdam Law School, it is generally WTO-compliant that GSP schemes include conditionalities – but only if those conditions serve the development, financial and trade needs of the beneficiary countries. Migration, he argues, does not fall under this category, since it concerns the EU member states’ own domestic interest. |
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| In this section, we occasionally highlight small projects that are making a difference at the community level – because sometimes it’s not major international decisions that make a tangible difference on the ground, but small, local actions. |
The Ethiopian Better Life for Generation Charity Organization works at the community level to empower particularly vulnerable groups – above all women, street children and students from socially disadvantaged families. The organisation focuses on practical support: the aim is to help women become more economically independent through vocational and entrepreneurship training, leadership development and counselling. For street children, the team creates safe spaces, organises meals and psychosocial support, and helps them to (re)enter school and achieve stable living conditions. In addition, Better Life for Generation assists schools and families with learning materials and tutoring programmes.
A particular focus is the fight against period poverty: by providing menstrual products, hygiene education and improved sanitation facilities, the organisation aims to prevent girls from missing school due to cost, stigma or a lack of toilets.
To expand its work, Better Life for Generation is seeking strategic partners – for financial or technical support as well as capacity building.
Contact: blife7839@gmail.com, Tel. +251916857155.
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The UNESCO‑UNEVOC “Skills in Action” Photo Competition 2026 invites amateur and professional photographers to submit photos that show how technical and vocational education and training equips young people with future‑ready skills. In addition to cash prizes of up to $ 750, the winning photos will be published and promoted across UNESCO‑UNEVOC’s channels.
Submission deadline: 31 August
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The World Bank Treasury Summer Internship is a 10-week, paid, full-time internship running from 1 June to 9 August 2027 at the World Bank in Washington for students interested in a career in financial markets. Over the 10 weeks, interns rotate through three Treasury teams and can also position themselves for a potential future role as Junior Analysts.
Application deadline: September 30
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Imprint
Publisher information: ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL gGmbH Service für Entwicklungsinitiativen
Publisher: Fazit Communication GmbH, Pariser Straße 1, D-60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)69 7591-3110 | Email: euz.editor@dandc.eu
Webseite: www.fazit.de | Managing Directors: Jonas Grashey, Hannes Ludwig |
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