Global challenges demand stable financing, not cuts.
Berlin, June 26, 2024 – Welthungerhilfe and terre des hommes are urging the German government not to further cut funding for development cooperation and humanitarian aid. The current global situation is cause for great concern: The number of people acutely affected by hunger has been steadily increasing since 2016, reaching approximately 280 million last year. Children and young people are particularly affected.
“If the current financial plan of Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner were implemented, funding would decrease by a further 1.6 billion euros in 2025. That would represent a total decline of around 25 percent within a single legislative period,” explains Joshua Hofert, Head of Communications at terre des hommes . “What is often forgotten in budget debates is that such cuts would affect millions of people on the African continent alone, for example in Sudan, Somalia, or Burkina Faso, who are suffering the consequences of crises and conflicts. Education and training programs for children and young people in southern Africa would be drastically reduced, as would adaptation programs to combat the effects of climate change in the Sahel region.”
This year, a major focus is on the German government's Africa policy against the backdrop of current political developments on the continent. terre des hommes and Welthungerhilfe are calling for binding guidelines outlining the goals the German government intends to agree upon with African countries, as well as the support it will offer these countries.
“It is time to adapt the various ministries’ Africa policies to the changing challenges facing Africa. The outdated narrative of Africa as a ‘crisis continent’ should be overcome, and Africa’s role as a sought-after partner should be recognized. Therefore, the German government should engage in dialogue on equal terms and closely coordinate its measures with existing strategies, such as those of the African Union. Food security and strengthening rural areas must be given priority. The BMZ’s budget cuts in this area of more than 30 percent as early as 2023 are short-sighted and send the wrong signal for eradicating hunger,” emphasizes Mathias Mogge, Secretary General of Welthungerhilfe.
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The »Compass 2024 – On the Reality of German Development Policy« can be found at www.tdh.de/kompass2024
<em>The "Compass 2024</em> " <em>is the further development of the annual report on the "</em> <em>Reality of Development Policy," which terre des hommes and Welthungerhilfe have published since 1993. It continues to subject German development policy to critical analysis, but in doing so, it takes particular account of the requirements for German policy set out in the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015.</em>
Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany; politically and religiously independent. It fights for Welthungerhilfe Zero Hunger by 2030. " Since its founding, Welthungerhilfe has supported more than 11,498 international projects in 72 countries with €4.75 billion. Welthungerhilfe operates according to the fundamental principle of helping people to help themselves: from rapid disaster relief and reconstruction to long-term development cooperation projects with national and international partner organizations.
The development policy children's rights organization terre des hommes has been committed to helping children in need for over 50 years. terre des hommes stops violence against children, protects them from slavery, exploitation, and abuse, and works to ensure that children can grow up in a healthy environment that also offers future generations opportunities. terre des hommes is independent of governments, businesses, religious communities, and political parties, and currently supports around 400 projects worldwide run by local partner organizations.