Financing of projects

Foundation for Citizens Cooperation tries to assist, coordinate and integrate democratic NGO-activities in Germany with a clear focus on smaller initiatives and Self-Help-Organisations.

The State Government of Schleswig-Holstein supports development policy initiatives through, among other things, an annual financial contribution to the One-World Network (Landesnetzwerk Bündnis Eine Welt – BEI) as well as to the Promoter Program (Promotorenprogramm), whereas four positions have been created in 2012 in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Furthermore, Schleswig-Holstein works hand in hand on the basis of mutual trust with BEI within the framework of nationwide committees for development cooperation.

The Ministry for Energy, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitalization (Ministerium für Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung - MELUR) also cooperates with the Service Agency Communities in One World (Servicestelle Kommunen in der Einen Welt) and the Lutheran-Protestant Church of Northern Germany. A high-level agreement was signed with the Church of Northern Germany. Development projects by non-governmental organizations are subsidised by BINGO, the state-owned lottery.

Beside the support of municipal and school-related North-South partnerships, MELUR prioritizes awareness-raising measures, for example in the areas of sustainable and fair procurement and Fair Trade as well as educational work within the UNESCO Global Action Prorgramme on Education for Sustainable Development. These projects are run by the Ministry, mostly in cooperation with the “Educational Centre for Nature, Environment and Rural Areas” (Bildungszentrum für Natur, Umwelt und ländliche Räume – BNUR). Global Learning
and development policy subjects are also part of educational work in schools within the framework of Schleswig-Holstein’s initiative “School of the Future.SH” (Zukunftsschule.SH). Several schools have already contributed to projects in this area.

With the aim of supporting climate protection, Schleswig-Holstein has joined the Initiative “Global Climate Leadership” in 2015. MELUR supports the cooperation between participants from the economic and academic sectors in Schleswig-Holstein, who, together with their Mexican partners, work in the field of renewable energies and climate protection within the framework of the German-Mexican Climate Alliance.

Every year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the WTSH GmbH jointly fund a training program for specialized personnel from the Chinese province of Zhejiang.

Multi-facetted cooperation with developing countries exists in the area of university research and educational work.

Lower Saxony is committed to a range of activities in Sub-Saharan Africa and thus assumes responsibility for sustainable global development. The aim is to learn as much as possible from and with one another in the context of a global partnership and responsibility with
cosmopolitanism and cross-cultural competence.

Lower Saxony focuses on three priority areas of development cooperation:

1. Partnership with the Eastern Cape (South Africa) since 1995
2. Project cooperation with Tanzania since 2010
3. Development educational and information work

As part of the development policy information and educational work within Lower Saxony, the State Chancellery promotes the Association Development Policy Lower Saxony (Verband Entwicklungspolitik Niedersachsen e.V. - VEN). The VEN is the network of development
NGOs, initiatives and so-called One-World-Shops (Weltläden). The main focus of the VEN is the development educational and information work. The funds are directed to the implementation of „IBQ - projects“ (information, education and skills) of NGOs in Lower Saxony in the field of development cooperation.

Since 2014 Lower Saxony has been co-financing the nationwide Promoter-Program (Promotorenprogramm). The aim is to raise awareness on development issues in Lower Saxony. The continuation of the program up to 2018 has been decided upon in 2015 and the financial means are guaranteed.

As part of a special program for humanitarian aid, Lower Saxony has decided to take in 70 traumatized women and children from northern Iraq in 2015. They are victims of extreme violence by fighters of the terrorist organization Islamic State, whom Lower Saxony is going to ensure a safe stay over the next two years. The regional government has decided to allocate 1.1 million euros in 2015 and 6.8 million euros for the following years for the reception, accommodation and health care of these women and children.

2016 is planned to focus on the implementation and consolidation of the new Development Policy Guidelines and their linking with the Strategy for Sustainability of Lower Saxony, which is currently under revision. The intensified cooperation with development policy actors within the civil society - a positive effect of the process of drafting the guidelines - will be continued by, for example, giving these organizations an active part in developing the implementation strategy.

Furthermore, Lower Saxony participates in the newly established Bund-Länder-Program. With the involvement of GIZ’s office in Lower Saxony (Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit) project opportunities are currently being examined and planned to be approved
by the end of January 2016.

Description of the organization:

The Ministry of Education and Culture in Saarland is responsible for the topic of development cooperation. The goal is to work closely with actors from civil society and the municipal level who are active in development policy. Together with these partners, the Saarland assumes global responsibility. This includes fostering partnerships with countries and regions of the global South and promoting development policy information and education as well as civic engagement for the One World.

Goals and priorities

Since development cooperation is above all a task for society as a whole, the successful work of private initiatives, the churches and other non-governmental organizations in particular receives financial and non-material support. Saarland organizations working in and for South-North partnerships network with each other. Together, the state government and civil society want to make a concrete contribution to fighting poverty worldwide, securing peace, realizing democracy and making globalization fairer.

Particular importance is attached to the open and cooperative exchange of all actors in development policy work, both in global partnerships and in information and education work. In order to promote this exchange, the Ministry of Education and Culture invites to the open forum on development cooperation twice a year.

The Saarland Development Cooperation Guidelines were adopted by the Saarland Parliament in March 2017 and are the result of a development process with the active participation of civil society and Saarland non-governmental organizations. They represent the framework of Saarland's development cooperation and are intended to strengthen existing structures, initiatives and activities. They serve as orientation and form the basis for Saarland's future development policy relevant engagement.

The fields of action of Saarland's development cooperation are:

- development policy information, advisory and educational work

- science, research and teaching

- international exchange

- economy, enterprises, public administrations and municipalities

- international trade and agricultural policy

- North-South partnerships/cooperations

- impact of European policy on countries of the global south

Since 2018, the State Coordination Office for Education for Sustainable Development has been the key position for the structural anchoring of Education for Sustainable Development in school education. With the state coordination office, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is systematically and structurally anchored in the education sector. In order to link global interrelationships and individual behavior, even schoolchildren are to be sensitized to sustainable development.

There are also far-reaching efforts in the area of fair trade/sustainable procurement. For example, with the decision of the Council of Ministers on May 2, 2023, fair trade coffee and another fair trade product - such as chocolate, tea or sugar - will be used in all houses of the state government from July 1, 2023. "If you want to have good working conditions in your own country, you cannot save on the price of coffee, cocoa or sugar at the expense of people in the global south. Therefore, in the future, there will be fair trade products in the areas of the ministers, the Prime Minister, but also in the hospitality of guests," explains Secretary of State for Education Jan Benedyczuk. With this decision, the state government has launched the "Fair Federal State" project. With this, Saarland will be the first federal state to submit an application for certification as a Fairtrade federal state in the fall of 2023. The certification is intended to structurally anchor Fair Trade in Saarland.

There are also far-reaching efforts in the area of fair trade/sustainable procurement. For example, with the decision of the Council of Ministers on May 2, 2023, fair trade coffee and another fair trade product - such as chocolate, tea or sugar - will be used in all houses of the state government from July 1, 2023. "If you want to have good working conditions in your own country, you cannot save on the price of coffee, cocoa or sugar at the expense of people in the global south. Therefore, in the future, there will be fair trade products in the areas of the ministers, the Prime Minister, but also in the hospitality of guests," explains Secretary of State for Education Jan Benedyczuk. With this decision, the state government has launched the "Fair Federal State" project. With this, Saarland will be the first federal state to submit an application for certification as a Fairtrade federal state in the fall of 2023. The certification is intended to structurally anchor Fair Trade in Saarland.

The application documents must be submitted to the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Saarland by December 31 of the previous year at the latest for the budget year of the funding. For project funding within the framework of development cooperation, the guidelines of development cooperation of the Saarland apply as a content-related framework. The legal framework for funding is formed by the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Culture for the granting of subsidies for the funding of projects within the framework of development cooperation, as amended from time to time.