Development cooperation

The State Chancellery of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania plays the leading role in the federal states’ development cooperation activities. It coordinates the tasks of development cooperation with the participating ministries and civil society institutions. This is done primarily through the annual Round Table that brings together authorities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Special attention is given to the „Sustainable Development Goals“ adopted by the United Nations which underline the sustainability objectives of the One-World for the time between 2015 and 2030.

Since 2014, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has been co-financing the Promoter-Program (Promotorenprogramm). Five field and regional Promoter positions have been created for this purpose. They contribute to an enhanced understanding of democracy, human rights and social diversity and deal with issues of the One-World.

Another pillar of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s development cooperation is the often voluntary work of NGOs. Many initiatives of development cooperation have joined forces in the One-World Network (Eine-Welt-Landesnetzwerk). The Network addresses them through the annual “Development Policy Days in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania” (Entwicklungspolitische Tage Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - since November 2017 called „weltwechsel“), through educational projects of One-World groups as well as the numerous activities on Fair Trade (www.eine-welt-mv.de).

Since 2001, surpluses of the state-owned Bingo lottery of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have been utilized to support NGOs. The money is allocated to the North German Foundation for Environment and Development (Norddeutsche Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung – NUE), which uses the funds for the promotion of environmental and nature conservation projects as well as development aid projects.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is an active member of the North-German Partnership (Norddeutsche Partnerschaft – NUN). Within the framework of UNESCO‘s Global Programme of Action 2015 - 2019 the states of Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein agreed to continue their existing collaboration. The focus is on the qualification and certification of training providers in the field of non-formal education for sustainable development. In this case, the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Consumer Protection Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania assumes the coordinating role.