The German government wants to cut humanitarian and development aid by €2 billion this year. The foreign office plans to halve its budget for the global South. What do these cuts mean for development organizations and their efforts on the ground?

Berlin

The German government is moving forward with plans to reduce its foreign aid budget, drawing criticism from development NGOs and humanitarian organizations. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has proposed scaling back funds for initiatives targeting hunger and poverty, particularly in Africa, following similar moves by other major donor countries. 

Aid organizations such as Save the Children and Miserio warn that these cuts could force the closure of essential nutrition and feeding programs in crisis regions like Syria, Somalia, and Sudan, potentially resulting in loss of life. While the government argues that Germany will continue to be one of the world's largest humanitarian donors, NGOs are appealing to the Bundestag to reconsider the reductions before a final decision is made.

How Germany's cuts in foreign aid could cost lives

Lives are on the line over budget cuts, but the German government, unmoved by protests, still set on slashing aid for development NGOs. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is on trend. He's tabled a budget proposal that, like the US, France, the United Kingdom and other donor countries, would scale back funds for the fight against hunger and poverty, especially in Africa. Florian Westphal heads the German section of the international aid organisation Save the Children. He is deeply worried. His staff may soon have to make heartbreaking choices. In the most extreme cases, it's a life or death issue for children. I recently went to Syria and I visited one of our nutritional centres, severely malnourished babies. We reach about 1,300 of these kids in northeast Syria. But the funding is only secured for a few more months. And if there's no more money, some of those babies will unfortunately die if we can't help them. From the headquarters in Berlin, Florian Westphal is calling a project manager in South Sudan, where thousands of refugees arrive from Sudan devastated by civil war. The project serves displaced malnourished children who arrive without parents. There was a lot of pleading from the communities that we should continue with those activities because they are really, really important for the children who are in displacement or who are experiencing the war in Sudan. The aid sector has already been hit by drastic budget cuts in the United States. Now it's facing another devastating blow if European countries pull out funding too. I think a perfect storm is a fair description, to be honest. I think this is unprecedented. We are extremely worried about the impact that these aid cuts will be having. We are closing down nutrition programs in Somalia. We are stopping feeding programs for people in Sudan, which is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. International donor conferences like this recent one in Sevilla have only minor influence on concrete budget planning in Germany, admits the spokesperson of Germany's foreign office in Berlin. We are indeed reducing the budget plan to the level before the 2015 refugee crisis. This means that we need to become more effective and actually we have to prioritize. However, I would also like to emphasize once again that Germany remains one of the largest humanitarian donors in the world despite this reduction. One of the big players among the aid organizations is Miserio, a global charity of the Catholic Church with thousands of projects in the global south. By cutting aid, Germany will lose its credibility and global reach, says the head of Miserio in Germany. We know how German tax money and donations can make a difference in the world. Therefore in our view, cuts represent a great responsibility. With a large budget and major challenges, we appeal for the wise use of what provides security and peace to the world, what can avert humanitarian disasters. Cuts and further cuts are irresponsible. Miserio and other NGOs hope to undo the budget cuts during talks with the Bundestag, the German parliament. A final decision is due in September.

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