Today, our lives are much more interconnected with those of people living on other continents than ever before. We have many advantages because of that. How­ever, it also means that we have greater re­spon­si­bil­i­ty than previous gen­er­a­tions, because the in­ter­na­tional com­mu­ni­ty is facing chal­lenges for which it needs to find glo­bal solutions. Radical changes need to be made – at global level and as soon as possible.

Germany is taking on its re­spon­si­bil­i­ty

The German gov­ern­ment is actively engaged, in close co­op­er­a­tion with the in­ter­na­tional com­mu­ni­ty, in com­bat­ing pov­er­ty, securing food, establishing peace, free­dom, democracy and human rights, shaping glo­bal­i­sa­tion in a social­ly eq­ui­ta­ble man­ner, and pre­serv­ing the en­vi­ron­ment and natural resources.

De­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion is one of the most im­por­tant in­stru­ments for achiev­ing these goals. The Ger­man gov­ern­ment regards it as an im­per­a­tive of hu­man­i­ty and of rea­son. De­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion gua­ran­tees a future for people in de­vel­op­ing coun­tries – and thus for everyone else, too.

De­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion – because prosperity comes with obligations

Justice and solidarity are fun­da­men­tal values of human life: No one should turn a blind eye to in­humane con­di­tions in other coun­tries. We are not only re­spon­si­ble for what we do, but also for what we do not do. Our cul­ture is based on the ideal that the strong must help the weak. Ac­cord­ing to the Ger­man con­sti­tu­tion, the Basic Law: "Property en­tails ob­li­ga­tions. Its use shall also serve the public good."

In a globalised world the public good includes those people who live on other continents. The majority of the global popu­la­tion lives in de­vel­op­ing coun­tries. Never­the­less, the world's wealth is con­centrated in the developed world, which thus carries joint re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for eliminating pov­er­ty in the world.

However, modern German de­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion is more than just char­i­ta­ble aid for the poor. It helps people to help them­selves and plays a part in en­abl­ing people to get out of pov­er­ty by their own efforts.

The social, economic and environmental problems the de­vel­op­ing coun­tries are fac­ing cannot be solved by state in­sti­tu­tions alone. All the social forces in a coun­try – citizens, the private sector, state and civil society or­ga­ni­sa­tions – need to take on re­spon­si­bil­i­ty and cooperate in a constructive manner.

De­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion – because everyone benefits

Today's problems do not stop at national borders. Terrorism, war and civil war have an impact across borders. Those who want security have to do some­thing to establish peace in the world. De­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion helps to pre­vent crises and over­come conflicts.

Environmental degradation and climate change are other global challenges. The high rate of con­sump­tion of fos­sil fuels and the associated carbon dio­xide pol­lu­tion of the atmosphere are im­pact­ing the climate the world over. De­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion, which promotes en­vi­ron­ment­al pro­tec­tion, en­vi­ron­ment­al­ly friend­ly pro­duc­tion methods and the use of re­new­able resources, con­tri­butes to glob­al en­vi­ron­ment­al protection.

On account of how closely integrated the world economic system is no national economy remains unaffected by crises in other coun­tries and regions. Exports provide an im­por­tant economic basis in developed coun­tries, and exports need a stable global economy. Financial and economic crises in Africa, Asia or South America can lead to job losses in Germany and other developed coun­tries.

De­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion, which is geared to stabilising national economies in partner coun­tries, also gives a boost to donor coun­tries' economies. It thus helps both recipients and donors and creates multifarious cultural relations and economic partnerships.

Germany was itself once a recipient of in­ter­na­tional aid programmes. The coun­try was devastated during the Second World War and subsequently received billions of dollars in support from the United States under the Marshall Plan. It taught the German popu­la­tion how im­por­tant and suc­cess­ful aid can be. The prosperity and values that are charac­teristic of today's Germany are also a con­se­quence of this forward-looking post-war policy. And, not least, it is this ex­pe­­ri­ence that induced the German gov­ern­ment to take on an active role in regard to de­vel­op­ment policy and, in 1961, to become first coun­try in Europe to es­tab­­lish a de­vel­op­ment ministry.