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![[Translate to en:] Blick von oben auf den Dienstsitz des Bundesministeriums für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung in Bonn – im Gebäude des ehemaligen Bundeskanzleramts.](/fileadmin/_processed_/2/f/csm_Bonn__ehemaliges_Bundeskanzleramt_cf7efbae75.jpg)
Development policy is currently under heavy attack. In spite of this, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has not been shut down. According to the German government’s coalition agreement, the core plans of the previous government are to be continued. This includes funding cuts, the use of political funds earmarked for development to leverage private capital, as well as an increasing instrumentalization of development policy in service of geo-economic and geopolitical objectives. The few progressive programmes, on the other hand, are being scrapped. A left-wing critique of the direction of both the BMZ and its development policy must pragmatically engage with the planned measures and formulate concrete demands, while at the same time thinking beyond the existing development policy. It is imperative that strategies and concepts are developed for a critical approach to internationalism and that solidarity-minded cooperation is thereby placed front and centre.
Authors:
- Andreas Bohne works as a freelance journalist and author. His areas of interest are German colonial history, right-wing groups, and politics in Southern Africa.
- Janine Walter is the head of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung’s Africa and West Asia department. She was previously the director of the RLS Southern Africa regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa.
