Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

Bonn, 20 March 2023. On 22-24 March 2023, the first global United Nations (UN) Conference on Water will take place since 1977. Progress on water-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals is alarmingly off-track; at the current pace, less than half of the countries will reach drinking water coverage targets and only little more have so far implemented integrated water resources management needed to balance competing water demands. Against this background, the conference aims to review progress and discuss further actions within the UN Water Action Decade (2018-2028), which aims at sustainable development and integrated management of water resources as a “dealmaker” for the SDGs. In addition, water actors have been invited to announce innovative ideas – so called game changers – for accelerated implementation of a Water Action Agenda.  

Weaknesses of global water governance

The conference takes place at a time when water governance at global level is highly fragmented, lacks coherence and coordination and features diverse fora and initiatives with varying ownership but lacking governmental legitimacy. Water problems such as droughts and polluted rivers and drinking water are local and transboundary, but they need global action for two reasons. First, global drivers such as climate change, demographic change or trade in water-intensive goods affect local water resources, but cannot be addressed at the local level alone. Second, the aggregation of individual local and regional water problems at global level may threaten earth system stability and resilience as a whole. Because of its earth system stabilising functions, freshwater serves as a global commons. However, no global regime similar to the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change or on the Conservation of Biological Diversity exists to govern water as a global commons: There is no UN mandated political forum on water. Existing multi-stakeholder platforms such as the World Water Forums do not have an intergovernmental mandate. UN-Water as interagency mechanism coordinates 35 UN organisations related to water, but it does not report to member states. UNESCO’s annual World Water Development Reports are not validated by member states and available knowledge on water is often not well linked to policy implementation. Furthermore, the role of the private sector in water governance is hotly debated, and civil society is insufficiently represented in water-related decision-making. All these shortcomings point to the need to govern water as a global commons.

Reforming global water governance

Indeed, the UN 2023 Water Conference’s background paper to the Interactive Dialogue on the Water Decade proposes reforms of global water governance. These include the appointment of a special envoy on water to the UN, establishing regular intergovernmental meetings on water within the UN, strengthening the role of UN-Water and a more coherent approach to the resource within the UN system. The paper also suggests coordinating more effectively with the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and the New Urban Agenda, e.g. by introducing freshwater segments. These would be crucial reforms of global water governance, but at present, it is unclear, whether these suggestions will be taken up. Several countries have so far blocked reforms of global water governance due to sovereignty concerns. We therefore strongly encourage the Conference Co-chairs to include these reforms in their conference report so they can be followed through at the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July to initiate a well-coordinated implementation.

In addition, it would be important to improve links between policy and science as brought forward by the game changer initiative on an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Water and Sustainability. A further noticeable effort is the initiative on Global Scaffolding for Water Policy Making on policy principles for solving the most sensitive issues in water resources management.

Beyond these existing proposals, a UN mandated multi-stakeholder platform would be an even more comprehensive approach: it could increase the transparency of discussions on water solutions, put them to a direct practice test by civil society and the private sector, and thereby strengthen ownership of a broad range of actors in the adoption of solutions to the global water crisis. This could be inspired by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) or European Commission’s suggestion for a science-policy-society interface for a food system transformation, and provide a framework for the initiatives mentioned earlier as well as for a reinforced UN-Water to bring in the collective UN voice coherently.

The international community has a once in a 46 year opportunity to take these initiatives to the next step in a coordinated manner and create a much needed positive tipping point. 

Dr. Ines Dombrowsky is an economist and  Head of Research programme “Environmental Governance” at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

Dr. Annabelle Houdret is a Political Scientist and Senior Researcher in the Research programme “Environmental Governance” at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). She is Speaker of the Bonn Water Network.

Dr. Olcay Ünver is Professor and Senior Global Futures Scientist at Arizona State University, member of Water Policy Group, Senior Water Advisor to FAO and UNESCO, and Industry Fellow at Australian Rivers Institute. In his public service career spanning three decades, he led FAO’s water programs and activities, UN-Water’s World Water Assessment Programme, and UNESCO’s Program Office on Global Water Assessment and served as Vice-Chair of UN-Water.

Social cohesion has recently gained increasing attention in academic and policy circles. Apart from being a necessary feature of stable societies per se, social cohesion is also a key factor for sustainable economic development. One potential  means through which social cohesion could foster economic development is by enhancing financial development. In this paper, I examine whether social cohesion is significantly associated with firms’ access to finance in Africa. To this end, I use a  recently constructed dataset on social cohesion in Africa, which contains indices for the three pillars of social cohesion – trust, inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good. Combining this dataset with that of the World Bank Enterprise  Surveys, I build a sample which covers more than 12,600 firms and 27 African countries. The results show that all three components of social cohesion are positively associated with at least one measure of firms’ access to external finance. In  particular, trust – but not inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good – is significantly associated with the likelihood that firms have a checking or savings account, or are financially constrained. When we measure access to finance with  respect to having a line of credit or a loan from a financial institution, all the three pillars of social cohesion, including inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good, are related to access to finance. The results are robust to addressing  endogeneity concerns using a heteroskedasticity-based identification strategy.

Social cohesion has recently gained increasing attention in academic and policy circles. Apart from being a necessary feature of stable societies per se, social cohesion is also a key factor for sustainable economic development. One potential  means through which social cohesion could foster economic development is by enhancing financial development. In this paper, I examine whether social cohesion is significantly associated with firms’ access to finance in Africa. To this end, I use a  recently constructed dataset on social cohesion in Africa, which contains indices for the three pillars of social cohesion – trust, inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good. Combining this dataset with that of the World Bank Enterprise  Surveys, I build a sample which covers more than 12,600 firms and 27 African countries. The results show that all three components of social cohesion are positively associated with at least one measure of firms’ access to external finance. In  particular, trust – but not inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good – is significantly associated with the likelihood that firms have a checking or savings account, or are financially constrained. When we measure access to finance with  respect to having a line of credit or a loan from a financial institution, all the three pillars of social cohesion, including inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good, are related to access to finance. The results are robust to addressing  endogeneity concerns using a heteroskedasticity-based identification strategy.

Social cohesion has recently gained increasing attention in academic and policy circles. Apart from being a necessary feature of stable societies per se, social cohesion is also a key factor for sustainable economic development. One potential  means through which social cohesion could foster economic development is by enhancing financial development. In this paper, I examine whether social cohesion is significantly associated with firms’ access to finance in Africa. To this end, I use a  recently constructed dataset on social cohesion in Africa, which contains indices for the three pillars of social cohesion – trust, inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good. Combining this dataset with that of the World Bank Enterprise  Surveys, I build a sample which covers more than 12,600 firms and 27 African countries. The results show that all three components of social cohesion are positively associated with at least one measure of firms’ access to external finance. In  particular, trust – but not inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good – is significantly associated with the likelihood that firms have a checking or savings account, or are financially constrained. When we measure access to finance with  respect to having a line of credit or a loan from a financial institution, all the three pillars of social cohesion, including inclusive identity and cooperation for the common good, are related to access to finance. The results are robust to addressing  endogeneity concerns using a heteroskedasticity-based identification strategy.

Die am DIW Berlin angesiedelte forschungsbasierte Infrastruktureinrichtung Sozio-oekonomisches

Panel (SOEP) sucht zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt eine studentische Hilfskraft (m/w/div) für 19 Wochenstunden.

Wir bieten Ihnen die Möglichkeit an einem Projekt mitzuwirken, bei dem wir Machine Learning Verfahren und statistische Methoden anwenden, um große Datenmengen zu simulieren und zu validieren. In dem Projekt geht es insbesondere um die Simulation von Bildungsverläufen im Rahmen von

Kleinräumigen Mikrosimulationsmodellen. Das Projekt ist Teil der DFG geförderten Forschendengruppe MikroSim (FOR 2559].

Marcel Fratzscher, Präsident des Deutschen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin), zur angespannten Lage im Bankensektor:

Niemand kann zu jetzigen Zeitpunkt ausschließen, dass die Turbulenzen im Bankensektor auch in Deutschland und Europa zu signifikanten Beeinträchtigungen bei Wachstum und Wohlstand führen. Finanzkrisen sind per Definition kaum vorhersehbar, aber wir dürfen sie auch nicht herbeireden. Die systemischen Risiken im Finanzsystem sind heute deutlich geringer als während der Lehman-Pleite im September 2008. Viele Finanzinstitute verfügen über mehr Eigenkapital und Absicherungen. Aktuell ist meine größte Sorge, dass es zu einer Panik auf den Kapitalmärkten kommt, da niemand weiß, welche Banken noch in Schieflage geraten könnten. Eine solche Panik könnte zu sogenannten selbsterfüllenden Prophezeiungen führen. Dies bedeutet, dass die Sorgen um die Liquidität des Bankensektors auch die Existenz von solchen Banken gefährdet, die ansonsten solvent wären.

Der Fall von Credit Suisse zeigt deutlich, dass auch systemrelevante Banken in Schieflage geraten können. Daher sollte auch kein deutscher Finanzminister leichtfertig Entwarnung geben, da er ansonsten droht, seine Glaubwürdigkeit aufs Spiel zu setzen. Die Politik muss offen und ehrlich kommunizieren, darf Probleme nicht klein reden, sollte aber auch darauf verzichten, weitere Ängste zu schüren. Die Bundesregierung, allen voran Bundeskanzler und Finanzminister, muss nun den schwierigen Balanceakt bewältigen, einerseits transparent mit dieser schwierigen Lage umzugehen, andererseits glaubwürdig zu versichern, dass sie alles Notwendige tun wird, diese zu beruhigen.

Es gibt auch in Deutschland bereits Anzeichen für erhebliche Verluste bei Finanzinstituten, wie die Abschreibungen der Sparkassen in den vergangenen Wochen zeigen. Die Verluste werden sich mit jedem Zinsanstieg der Europäischen Zentralbank weiter verschärfen. Daher halte ich die Zinserhöhung der EZB vom vergangenen Donnerstag im besten Fall für eine riskante Entscheidung und im negativen Fall für einen schwerwiegenden Fehler. Es wird sich diese Woche zeigen, ob die US-Notenbank der Zinserhöhung der EZB folgen wird oder ihren Fokus auf Finanzstabilität legt und davon absieht. Die EZB befindet sich in einem Dilemma, da sie einerseits die Inflation mit Zinserhöhungen in den Griff bekommen muss und andererseits Zinserhöhungen die Finanzstabilität schwächen. Eine Eskalation der Situation und eine Bankenkrise sind derzeit die größte Gefahr für die Preisstabilität in Deutschland und Europa. Sie könnten die Wirtschaft empfindlich schwächen und die Arbeitslosigkeit erhöhen, weil sie die Kreditvergabe an Unternehmen noch stärker beeinträchtigen würden.

The DIW Graduate Center offers a top-class doctoral program in economics in cooperation with Berlin universities. It currently has about 50 young, highly motivated PhD students from all over the world. For this purpose, the department is looking for a

Postdoc (f/m/nonbinary), full-time at 39 hours per week, part-time possible, starting from September 1st, 2023.

The research-based infrastructure of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), based at DIW Berlin, is one of the largest and longest-running multidisciplinary panel studies in the world, currently surveying about 30,000 people in nearly 15,000 households each year. SOEP claims to capture social change and is thus confronted with ever new and diverse topics and tasks. Its data collection and generation follows the concept of the survey or data life cycle.

We are hiring for the following position, to start as soon as possible:

Post-Doctoral Position in Wellbeing (f/m/nonbinary). Full-time at 39 hours per week, part-time possible.

We are looking for a post-doctoral research associate with a strong interest in research on wellbeing and living standard to join us in April 2023. The candidate is expected to be involved in the research activities of the SOEP division “Applied Panel Analysis”, in particular to support ongoing and initiate new research projects. Furthermore, the candidate is responsible for SOEP’s survey modules about wellbeing. We are especially interested in candidates with a strong background in micro-econometrics, and applied (micro) theory.

Der Rat der Europäischen Zentralbank (EZB) hat heute beschlossen, den Leitzins um 0,5 Prozentpunkte zu erhöhen. Dazu ein Statement von Marcel Fratzscher, Präsident des Deutschen Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin):

Die Europäische Zentralbank musste selten in den vergangenen zehn Jahren eine so schwierige Entscheidung treffen wie heute. Vorsichtig muss sie zwischen ihren Zielen der Preisstabilität und der Finanzstabilität abwägen. Zwar verpflichtet das Mandat die EZB primär, die Preisstabilität sicherzustellen. Eine Bankenkrise würde jedoch mittelfristig dieses Ziel unmöglich werden lassen. Daher kann die EZB mit ihrer Geldpolitik die Probleme vieler Finanzinstitute nicht ignorieren.

Aus dieser Perspektive hat die EZB klug gehandelt, indem sie an ihrer bereits versprochenen Zinserhöhung um 50 Basispunkte festgehalten und gleichzeitig Maßnahmen zur Unterstützung der Liquidität der Banken signalisiert hat. Eine geringere Zinserhöhung von 25 Basispunkten wäre zwar die bessere geldpolitische Entscheidung gewesen. Dies hätten jedoch Investoren als ein Signal der Sorge um die Resilienz europäischer Banken verstanden und eine starke Korrektur in den Kapitalmärkten auslösen können – was die EZB unbedingt vermeiden wollte, um nicht selbst als Ursache für Turbulenzen an den Kapitalmärkten zu werden.

Die EZB bleibt Antworten auf viele offene Fragen schuldig, zum Beispiel wie Finanzinstitutionen kurzfristig unterstützt und stabilisiert werden sollen. Die vage Kommunikation ist wahrscheinlich bewusst so gewählt worden, um keine Überreaktion an den Kapitalmärkten auszulösen. Die Bankenaufsicht und die EZB arbeiten sicherlich intensiv daran, verletzliche Finanzinstitutionen zu identifizieren und mögliche Probleme zu begrenzen. Es ist jedoch sehr wahrscheinlich, dass auch im Euroraum und in Deutschland einige Banken durch den starken Zinsanstieg große Verluste realisieren werden, ähnlich wie in den USA und nun die Credit Suisse in der Schweiz. Ich erwarte weitere Maßnahmen der EZB in den kommenden Wochen.

Die Inflation ist noch immer deutlich zu hoch, auch wenn die EZB mit diesem Zinsschritt nun bald ans Ende ihrer Zinserhöhungen kommen sollte. Denn die Zinserhöhungen gefährden nicht nur die Finanzstabilität, sondern schwächen auch die Wirtschaft in Deutschland und Europa. Die EZB muss aufpassen, dass sie den Bogen nicht überspannt. Mit den Problemen im Bankensektor gehen nun höhere Risiken von zu starken Zinserhöhungen als von einem zu geringen Anstieg aus.

The Global Tax Expenditures Database (https://GTED.net/) collects national reports on tax expenditures for 101 countries for the period from 1990 to the present. Based on these data, the development of tax expenditures in the 38 OECD countries between 1999 and today is examined. A look at the data shows that even in countries with high GDP and comprehensive tax coverage, reporting is often incomplete. For a subset of 16 OECD countries for which (relatively) continuous reporting over the period is available, we look at the development of tax benefits for households and firms. We can show that data availability improves over time. For the development of business tax expenditures, a weakly significant positive trend can be identified in terms of tax revenues foregone, driven mainly by the Netherlands and Ireland. Both countries are known for wanting to strengthen their business location through generous tax expenditures for businesses. Tax expenditures for private households, which are on average higher than the level of tax expenditures for businesses in the countries under review, do not show any significant time trend, even though they were increasingly used to relieve the burden on private households and businesses during the financial crisis of 2008/09. In order to compare tax expenditures between countries and to better assess their effectiveness, regular reporting at the national level, transparent definitions and ideally uniform standards would be helpful. Regular monitoring by a commission of experts could contribute to the consistency and comparability.

The Global Tax Expenditures Database (https://GTED.net/) collects national reports on tax expenditures for 101 countries for the period from 1990 to the present. Based on these data, the development of tax expenditures in the 38 OECD countries between 1999 and today is examined. A look at the data shows that even in countries with high GDP and comprehensive tax coverage, reporting is often incomplete. For a subset of 16 OECD countries for which (relatively) continuous reporting over the period is available, we look at the development of tax benefits for households and firms. We can show that data availability improves over time. For the development of business tax expenditures, a weakly significant positive trend can be identified in terms of tax revenues foregone, driven mainly by the Netherlands and Ireland. Both countries are known for wanting to strengthen their business location through generous tax expenditures for businesses. Tax expenditures for private households, which are on average higher than the level of tax expenditures for businesses in the countries under review, do not show any significant time trend, even though they were increasingly used to relieve the burden on private households and businesses during the financial crisis of 2008/09. In order to compare tax expenditures between countries and to better assess their effectiveness, regular reporting at the national level, transparent definitions and ideally uniform standards would be helpful. Regular monitoring by a commission of experts could contribute to the consistency and comparability.

The Global Tax Expenditures Database (https://GTED.net/) collects national reports on tax expenditures for 101 countries for the period from 1990 to the present. Based on these data, the development of tax expenditures in the 38 OECD countries between 1999 and today is examined. A look at the data shows that even in countries with high GDP and comprehensive tax coverage, reporting is often incomplete. For a subset of 16 OECD countries for which (relatively) continuous reporting over the period is available, we look at the development of tax benefits for households and firms. We can show that data availability improves over time. For the development of business tax expenditures, a weakly significant positive trend can be identified in terms of tax revenues foregone, driven mainly by the Netherlands and Ireland. Both countries are known for wanting to strengthen their business location through generous tax expenditures for businesses. Tax expenditures for private households, which are on average higher than the level of tax expenditures for businesses in the countries under review, do not show any significant time trend, even though they were increasingly used to relieve the burden on private households and businesses during the financial crisis of 2008/09. In order to compare tax expenditures between countries and to better assess their effectiveness, regular reporting at the national level, transparent definitions and ideally uniform standards would be helpful. Regular monitoring by a commission of experts could contribute to the consistency and comparability.

Droughts are among the leading causes of livestock mortality and conflict among pastoralist populations in East Africa. To foster climate resiliency in these populations, Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) products have become popular. These products, which allow herders to hedge climate risk, often utilize remote-sensed data to trigger indemnity payouts, thus ameliorating moral hazard issues associated with standard insurance products. We study how one such program, implemented in the southern Ethiopia, impacted the experience of violent conflict among participating households. Using causal mediation analysis, we show first that there is a strong link between rangeland conditions and violent conflict; a one-unit decrease in the standardized normalized difference vegetation index (zNDVI) in the previous season is associated with a 0.3-1.7 percentage point increase in the likelihood of conflict exposure. Within the mediation framework, we leverage a randomized encouragement experiment and show that insurance uptake reduces the conflict risk created by poor rangeland conditions by between 17 and 50 percent. Our results suggest that social protection programs, particularly index insurance programs, may act as a protective factor in areas with complex risk profiles, where households are exposed to both climatic and conflict risks, which themselves may interact.

Droughts are among the leading causes of livestock mortality and conflict among pastoralist populations in East Africa. To foster climate resiliency in these populations, Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) products have become popular. These products, which allow herders to hedge climate risk, often utilize remote-sensed data to trigger indemnity payouts, thus ameliorating moral hazard issues associated with standard insurance products. We study how one such program, implemented in the southern Ethiopia, impacted the experience of violent conflict among participating households. Using causal mediation analysis, we show first that there is a strong link between rangeland conditions and violent conflict; a one-unit decrease in the standardized normalized difference vegetation index (zNDVI) in the previous season is associated with a 0.3-1.7 percentage point increase in the likelihood of conflict exposure. Within the mediation framework, we leverage a randomized encouragement experiment and show that insurance uptake reduces the conflict risk created by poor rangeland conditions by between 17 and 50 percent. Our results suggest that social protection programs, particularly index insurance programs, may act as a protective factor in areas with complex risk profiles, where households are exposed to both climatic and conflict risks, which themselves may interact.

Droughts are among the leading causes of livestock mortality and conflict among pastoralist populations in East Africa. To foster climate resiliency in these populations, Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) products have become popular. These products, which allow herders to hedge climate risk, often utilize remote-sensed data to trigger indemnity payouts, thus ameliorating moral hazard issues associated with standard insurance products. We study how one such program, implemented in the southern Ethiopia, impacted the experience of violent conflict among participating households. Using causal mediation analysis, we show first that there is a strong link between rangeland conditions and violent conflict; a one-unit decrease in the standardized normalized difference vegetation index (zNDVI) in the previous season is associated with a 0.3-1.7 percentage point increase in the likelihood of conflict exposure. Within the mediation framework, we leverage a randomized encouragement experiment and show that insurance uptake reduces the conflict risk created by poor rangeland conditions by between 17 and 50 percent. Our results suggest that social protection programs, particularly index insurance programs, may act as a protective factor in areas with complex risk profiles, where households are exposed to both climatic and conflict risks, which themselves may interact.

The concept and mainstream approaches of development cooperation (DC) have been criticised since the early beginning of their existence. Post-development (PD) scholars have been criticising international DC since 1990 for both its Western perspective and the lack of reflection on asymmetrical power structures. Since also today DC has to face a variety of criticisms, we perceive PD approaches as a starting point for efforts towards change. We asked (1) to what extent and how elements of post-development approaches are reflected in the current policy initiatives of international DC, and (2) what potential do PD approaches have to reform DC. We analysed three examples: German feminist development policy (FemDP) as a relatively new idea of transformation, the locally led development approach as a long-standing concept and Global Public Investment (GPI) as an approach towards a new concept of international cooperation. By means of a content analysis, four commonly used PD elements were selected and slightly adapted to examine whether and how the three policy initiatives acknowledge PD aspects in order to reform DC: (1) the concept of alternatives to development, (2) pluralism of knowledge and power dynamics, (3) user-centred approaches and a critical stance towards the established scientific discourse and (4) the promotion of grassroots movements and local ownership. We discovered a variation in the use of the different PD elements. Although aspects related to power relations, post-colonial structures and knowledge management are prominent in all three initiatives, elements such as grassroots movements are given less consideration in all three cases. Even though FemDP does not focus on an alternative to development, as defined by PD approaches, it puts a strong emphasis on a transformative approach when it comes to its user-centred empowerment and tackles power imbalances by approaching decolonisation. Subsequently, the efforts of German Development Minister Svenja Schulze do not just describe a rhetorical reorientation but involve actual transformative efforts. However, further implementation efforts need to be analysed. The locally led development approach seems to be a suitable springboard for the inclusion of local knowledge and grassroots movements. Whereas the approach mostly uses descriptions of change as a means to reach its objectives, the GPI concept in particular uses PD elements as a reformative approach, as per the PD definition, putting the objective of the transformation of international public finance in international cooperation at its centre. Valuing PD approaches, we conclude that they do influence public initiatives in one way or another. In the future, if inner-systemic change should become an option, we see the greatest added value when PD scholars succeed in underpinning their approaches with instruments that can be used as tools in DC practice.

The concept and mainstream approaches of development cooperation (DC) have been criticised since the early beginning of their existence. Post-development (PD) scholars have been criticising international DC since 1990 for both its Western perspective and the lack of reflection on asymmetrical power structures. Since also today DC has to face a variety of criticisms, we perceive PD approaches as a starting point for efforts towards change. We asked (1) to what extent and how elements of post-development approaches are reflected in the current policy initiatives of international DC, and (2) what potential do PD approaches have to reform DC. We analysed three examples: German feminist development policy (FemDP) as a relatively new idea of transformation, the locally led development approach as a long-standing concept and Global Public Investment (GPI) as an approach towards a new concept of international cooperation. By means of a content analysis, four commonly used PD elements were selected and slightly adapted to examine whether and how the three policy initiatives acknowledge PD aspects in order to reform DC: (1) the concept of alternatives to development, (2) pluralism of knowledge and power dynamics, (3) user-centred approaches and a critical stance towards the established scientific discourse and (4) the promotion of grassroots movements and local ownership. We discovered a variation in the use of the different PD elements. Although aspects related to power relations, post-colonial structures and knowledge management are prominent in all three initiatives, elements such as grassroots movements are given less consideration in all three cases. Even though FemDP does not focus on an alternative to development, as defined by PD approaches, it puts a strong emphasis on a transformative approach when it comes to its user-centred empowerment and tackles power imbalances by approaching decolonisation. Subsequently, the efforts of German Development Minister Svenja Schulze do not just describe a rhetorical reorientation but involve actual transformative efforts. However, further implementation efforts need to be analysed. The locally led development approach seems to be a suitable springboard for the inclusion of local knowledge and grassroots movements. Whereas the approach mostly uses descriptions of change as a means to reach its objectives, the GPI concept in particular uses PD elements as a reformative approach, as per the PD definition, putting the objective of the transformation of international public finance in international cooperation at its centre. Valuing PD approaches, we conclude that they do influence public initiatives in one way or another. In the future, if inner-systemic change should become an option, we see the greatest added value when PD scholars succeed in underpinning their approaches with instruments that can be used as tools in DC practice.

The concept and mainstream approaches of development cooperation (DC) have been criticised since the early beginning of their existence. Post-development (PD) scholars have been criticising international DC since 1990 for both its Western perspective and the lack of reflection on asymmetrical power structures. Since also today DC has to face a variety of criticisms, we perceive PD approaches as a starting point for efforts towards change. We asked (1) to what extent and how elements of post-development approaches are reflected in the current policy initiatives of international DC, and (2) what potential do PD approaches have to reform DC. We analysed three examples: German feminist development policy (FemDP) as a relatively new idea of transformation, the locally led development approach as a long-standing concept and Global Public Investment (GPI) as an approach towards a new concept of international cooperation. By means of a content analysis, four commonly used PD elements were selected and slightly adapted to examine whether and how the three policy initiatives acknowledge PD aspects in order to reform DC: (1) the concept of alternatives to development, (2) pluralism of knowledge and power dynamics, (3) user-centred approaches and a critical stance towards the established scientific discourse and (4) the promotion of grassroots movements and local ownership. We discovered a variation in the use of the different PD elements. Although aspects related to power relations, post-colonial structures and knowledge management are prominent in all three initiatives, elements such as grassroots movements are given less consideration in all three cases. Even though FemDP does not focus on an alternative to development, as defined by PD approaches, it puts a strong emphasis on a transformative approach when it comes to its user-centred empowerment and tackles power imbalances by approaching decolonisation. Subsequently, the efforts of German Development Minister Svenja Schulze do not just describe a rhetorical reorientation but involve actual transformative efforts. However, further implementation efforts need to be analysed. The locally led development approach seems to be a suitable springboard for the inclusion of local knowledge and grassroots movements. Whereas the approach mostly uses descriptions of change as a means to reach its objectives, the GPI concept in particular uses PD elements as a reformative approach, as per the PD definition, putting the objective of the transformation of international public finance in international cooperation at its centre. Valuing PD approaches, we conclude that they do influence public initiatives in one way or another. In the future, if inner-systemic change should become an option, we see the greatest added value when PD scholars succeed in underpinning their approaches with instruments that can be used as tools in DC practice.