In the 2027 federal budget, the budget of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is set to be cut by a further 600 million euros or so. Funding for humanitarian aid, which had previously been drastically cut, is set to remain at around one billion euros. An alliance of civil society organisations, together with around 100,000 signatories to a petition, is protesting against this. The petition was handed over today in Berlin to Dr Matthias Miersch, Chair of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, and Klaus Mack, Deputy Chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
In the petition “Don’t cut solidarity to the bone! Strengthen international aid!”, the coalition of 16 organisations calls on the federal government to invest more in emergency aid and development cooperation. The coalition opposes further cuts to international cooperation.
A joint report highlights the impact of global cuts: up to twelve million women and girls could lose access to vital health and protection services, and six million children could lose access to education. Due to malnutrition and infectious diseases, the number of deaths among children under five could rise to over five million a year. As one of the world’s strongest economies, Germany bears a special international responsibility.
The petition remains open until the end of September. The signatures received so far were handed over today to mark the tabling of the Budget Bill in the Bundestag.
The coalition has issued the following statement on the petition:
“The federal government’s cuts come at a time when development cooperation and humanitarian aid are needed more than ever. Today, 645 million people worldwide are going hungry – more than a decade ago. Geopolitical conflicts and disruptions to key trade routes, such as those around the Strait of Hormuz, as well as extreme weather events, are increasing the pressure on the global food supply. People in the world’s poorest countries are particularly affected.
At the same time, we are witnessing how women’s rights organisations and women-led organisations are being hit particularly hard by these global cuts. This is a disastrous step backwards on the path to greater gender equality.
These cuts, both in Germany and globally, are serving to further entrench inequality. Cuts to development cooperation and humanitarian aid are also short-sighted from a budgetary perspective. In the long term, hunger, crises and instability incur costs many times greater than those of prevention. “Those who cut spending today are merely postponing the bill and will ultimately make it significantly more expensive.”
Participating organisations: ADRA Germany, Action Against Hunger, Bread for the World, CARE Germany, German Foundation for World Population (DSW), Global Citizen, Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe, Hirschfeld-Eddy Foundation, International Rescue Committee (IRC) Germany, Misereor, NRC Germany, ONE Germany, Oxfam Germany, Terre des Hommes Germany, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe and Women for Women International Europe.
Press contact:
Markus Winkler
Tel. 030 - 279 099 776
Email: presse@aktiongegendenhunger.de
Barbara Wiegard
Tel. 0171-3358887
Email: barbara.wiegard@misereor.de
Press materials:
Photos of the event will be available here from around 5 pm. Please credit: © Jörg Farys.
The petition “Don’t cut solidarity to pieces” can be accessed here.
A factsheet containing information on the impact of the cuts is available for download here.
