Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik / Latest News

Diese Veröffentlichung stellt eine von sechs Analysen sektorenübergreifender Herausforderungen für Wasser-Governance dar, die als Teil des STEER-Forschungsprojekts durchgeführt wurden und deren Resultate in separaten Analysen und Stellungnahmen vorliegen.
Südafrikas Wassergesetzgebung ist international anerkannt für ihre ambitionierte Umsetzung des integrierten Wasserressourcenmanagements (IWRM). IWRM ist ein Konzept, das entwickelt wurde, um komplexe Herausforderungen im Bereich Wasser anzugehen, indem es die Beziehungen zwischen Land und Wasser berücksichtigt und den Wissensstand für andere Wasser nutzende Sektoren und Akteur*innen erweitert. Die Beteiligung von und Koordination zwischen Interessensvertreter*innen, Schlüsselaspekte des IWRM, stehen im Gegensatz zu einem hierarchischen Führungsstil, wie er von den meisten Regierungen praktiziert wird. Wir sehen drei Herausforderungen bei der Umsetzung von IWRM in Südafrika: Erstens, ein duales Governance-System: Die Landschaft der für das Einzugsgebietsmanagement relevanten südafrikanischen Organisationen besteht aus Organisationen des westlichen Governance- und des traditionellen Governance-Systems. Das westliche Governance-System umfasst Organisationen wie das Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), das mit der Bewirtschaftung der Wasserressourcen beauftragt ist, und das Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, das sich mit der traditionellen Führung in verschiedenen Fragen einschließlich des Landmanagements abstimmt. Gegenwärtig arbeiten diese Organisationen in Land-Wasser-Fragen nicht im erforderlichen Maße zusammen. Zweitens, eine mangelnde Umsetzung der Wassergesetzgebung: Das südafrikanische Wassergesetz von 1998 sieht Behörden für Einzugsgebietsmanagement (Catchment Management Agencies, CMAs) als Netzwerk-Governance-Strukturen vor, die dieEinzugsgebiete auf lokaler Ebene bewirtschaften und alle Wassernutzer*innen einbeziehen sollen. Doch nach über 20 Jahren sind diese Strukturen nicht umgesetzt worden. Dies ist auf einen Konflikt von Governance-Stilen zwischen den Stakeholder integrierenden CMAs und dem expertengesteuerten, hierarchischen DWS zurückzuführen. Drittens, Konflikt zwischen Governance-Stilen: In Ermangelung einer CMA haben sich im uMngeni-Einzugsgebiet mehrere informelle oder nicht gesetzlich verankerte Netzwerk-Governance-Strukturen entwickelt (z.B. Foren für Einzugsgebietsmanagement und die uMngeni Ecological Infrastructure Partnership). In einigen Fällen befinden sich Repräsentant*innen dieser Strukturen und Regierungsvertreter*innen im Konflikt über unterschiedliche Ansätze des Wissensmanagements und der Entscheidungsfindung; diese Unterschiede wurzeln in ihrem jeweiligen Governance-Stil. In den vergangenen Jahren hat das DWS einen Prozess zur Erarbeitung der formal notwendigen Strategie des Einzugsgebietsmanagements eingeleitet, der von den Stakeholdern verlangt, sich zu beteiligen und ihre Bedürfnisse zu formulieren. Dieser Prozess könnte zu einem vermittelnden Instrument für Konflikte zwischen den Akteur*innen werden.
Wir machen folgende Vorschläge:
1. Um IWRM umzusetzen ist die Integration der traditionellen Führungsebene in Planungsprozesse auf kulturell sensible Weise von entscheidender Bedeutung.
2. Netzwerkstrukturen – von der Regierung gestaltet oder selbst organisiert – können das zur Umsetzung von IWRM erforderliche Sozialkapital auf lokaler und regionaler Ebene schaffen.
3. Um zwischen vorhandenem hierarchischen und Netzwerk-Governance-Wissen zu vermitteln, sollten Managementstrategien auf einem hybriden Governance-Stil beruhen.

Harro van Asselt, Sander Chan, Idil Boran, Thomas Hale, Lukas Hermwille and Charles Roger examine opportunities to strengthen climate action by non-state and subnational actors.
Five years ago, governments from across the world came together in Paris to chart a new course for global climate policy. The Paris Agreement put in place a ‘ratchet mechanism’ through which countries submit national climate plans in the form of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which should be reviewed and strengthened periodically.
In the past year, new and updated NDCs have been trickling in, but the level of ambition still falls short of averting the most dangerous climate impacts. On the brink of a new decade for climate action, however, we see some cause for optimism. Several of the largest emitting economies, including China, the EU, Japan, South Korea and the UK have pledged to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050 or 2060. The incoming Biden-Harris administration is also expected to commit to becoming net-zero by 2050. However, real climate benefits crucially depend on whether governments actually live up to their promises. While mid-century pledges are relatively easily made, governments need to align short-term plans and policies, including their NDCs, with longer-term commitments.
The Paris Agreement creates a set of mechanisms for updating these government commitments at periodic intervals. However, the agreement’s architects did not limit themselves to government action alone. Accompanying the agreement was a decision that underscored the role of subnational and non-state actors, including cities, regions, businesses, investors, civil society organizations and the transnational initiatives and networks in which they are engaged. These ‘non-Party stakeholders’, the drafters recognized, can help drive domestic ambition, engage in efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and boost climate resilience, and bolster action by states and international organizations at the global level.

Communities hosting large numbers of refugees are under immense pressure regarding social cohesion and local economic development, often coupled with inequitable gender roles. As this study demonstrates, cash-for-work (CfW) programmes can mitigate this pressure because – beyond direct effects on employment, infrastructure and skills – they also unfold positive community effects, even in contexts of flight and migration. This study, based on 380 interviews gathered during a 3-months field stay and a GIZ survey of over 980 former participants of the Improving Green Infrastructure in Jordan Programme, details how CfW programmes in Jordan implemented by international donors have supported local communities hosting the majority of circa 600,000 Syrian refugees living outside camps. It argues that such programmes, if skilfully designed, reap sizeable benefits not only for their direct participants, even if – under the current set-up – post-CfW employment and investment effects remain limited and changed gender roles may not be sustained. The study presents recommendations for international and local policymakers on how to factor in community effects when designing policy responses to protracted displacement.

Compared to other Latin American countries, Costa Rica has good indicators for economic growth and social development. Historically, it has managed to combine inward growth with intelligent use of the options offered by international markets. In recent decades, the country has undergone a strong structural change, with new export activities generating well-paying jobs and accelerated urbanization. While this has allowed for solid economic growth rates, it has also meant an increase in social inequality and greater territorial disparities.
A considerable part of the population living in Costa Rica’s rural areas feels left behind by the changes and has lost confidence in the political system. This puts the country’s governance in jeopardy. This article proposes a seal for the country’s family agriculture as an instrument for promoting social and territorial cohesion. A seal that highlights the peasant origin of agricultural and agro-industrial products can enable producers to compete with imported products and ensure attractive sales channels with good prices.
It can also have an important symbolic value, transmitting the message of solidarity and shared identity between the urban population and rural areas. In order for producers to perceive positive changes in the near future, several sales channels should be served simultaneously, namely supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, e-commerce and tourism. The certification process should be robust and at the same time simple, to avoid delays and high costs.

Developing as a latecomer country is tricky. It implies competing with established production systems that benefit from know-how, economies of scale and network externalities accumulated over decades. It is thus unsurprisung that very few countries have been able to close the technological and income gap. Those that did, like South Korea and China, started by inviting foreign investors, buying licenses and emulating the early movers‘ proven business models until they had enough capabilies to chart their own pathways and become wealthy knowldege societies – and role models for other latecomers. Global warming and other major environmental crises however reveal the unsustainability of a techno-economic paradim based on burning fossil fuel and maximisation of material throughput and consumption. Hence, latecomers can no longer build on emulating technologies and institutions, but need to start deviating from established practices early on. Still, the successful country cases hold important policy lessons for them.

This paper examines the dynamic short- and long-run asymmetric interactions and causality between real economic activity and stock and gold markets volatility shocks using both the cointegration Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag and Granger causality tests. In a further analysis, we used both the original and the partial sums decomposition of these variables to examine the level of market integration under different market conditions using the spillover index of Diebold & Yilmaz (2009; 2012; 2014). Our results indicate asymmetries in the short- and long-term relationships among these variables. In the long run, both positive and negative shocks from the energy market increase stock market volatility. However, only positive shocks on the gold market increase stock market volatility, while positive (negative) shocks on economic activity reduce (increase) stock market volatility. Also, an increase in both stock and energy markets volatility shocks are detrimental to real economic activity. We find a feedback effect between real economic activity shocks and these market volatility indexes, except for the gold market which has a unidirectional causality with the real economic activity shocks. Finally, the spillover analysis suggests a stronger integration among the partial sums, with the energy market as the dominant net-transmitter of both positive and negative shocks while the gold market is a net-receiver of shocks. Our results hold crucial implications for both investors and policymakers.

Access to labour market plays an essential role in allowing displaced populations to sustain their livelihoods and integrate into a host community. However, evidence shows that displaced people face specific challenges in integrating into the labour market. Covid-19 further aggravates these challenges. This policy brief presents evidence on interventions to ease the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of displaced populations, in the short term during lockdowns and in the medium and longer term under remaining restrictions and changed economic structures.

This open access handbook analyses the role of development cooperation in achieving the 2030 Agenda in a global context of ‘contested cooperation’. Development actors, including governments providing aid or South-South Cooperation, developing countries, and non-governmental actors (civil society, philanthropy, and businesses) constantly challenge underlying narratives and norms of development. The book explores how reconciling these differences fosters achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Immer mehr Kommunen tragen direkt zur Verwirklichung der UN-Agenda 2030 bei. Sie agieren als Vorbilder im Klimaschutz, unterstützen fairen Handel, die gesellschaftliche Teilhabe von Migrant*innen und befördern dabei multilaterale Zusammenarbeit und Engagement. Der Preis „Globale Partnerschaften – Kommunale Partnerschaften“, der im Rahmen des Deutschen Nachhaltigkeitstages ausgelobt wird, würdigt herausragende Kooperationen deutscher Städte, Gemeinden und Landkreise mit Kommunen im Globalen Süden. Bei der diesjährigen Preisverleihung am 4. Dezember wurden drei Partnerschaften ausgezeichnet: Die zwei ersten Plätze gingen an die Stadt Landau in Rheinland-Pfalz und den Ruhango Distrikt im ostafrikanischen Ruanda sowie den Landkreis Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemberg mit der Partnerstadt Brusque in Südbrasilien. Den dritten Platz belegte die Partnerschaft zwischen der Stadt Leipzig in Sachsen und der Stadt Addis Abeba in Äthiopien. Diese Partnerschaften zeigen drei wesentliche Trends.

Erstens wird das kommunale Engagement in Deutschland vielfältiger. Nicht nur große, sondern auch kleinere Städte und Kommunen unterhalten inzwischen Partnerschaften im Globalen Süden. Auch die Themen werden vielseitiger. So unterstützt die nunmehr 36-jährige Partnerschaft zwischen Landau und Ruhango die Bildung und Gesundheitsversorgung in dem ruandischen Partnerdistrikt. In den letzten zwei Jahren kam ein mit den Entsorgungsbetrieben Landaus entwickelter Plan zur Verbesserung des Siedlungs- und Wassermanagement hinzu. Die seit 2012 bestehende Klimapartnerschaft zwischen Karlsruhe und Brusque konzentriert sich auf Umwelt- und Wirtschaftskooperation sowie den Austausch zwischen Schulen. Die Vielfalt liegt nicht zuletzt an der in den vergangenen Jahren stark ausgeweiteten Förderung des entwicklungspolitischen Engagements der Kommunen, insbesondere durch die Servicestelle Kommunen in der Einen Welt (SKEW). Das Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) erhöhte seine für diesen Bereich bereitgestellten Mittel von 5 Millionen Euro im Jahr 2013 auf knapp 31 Millionen Euro im Jahr 2020.

Zweitens profitieren nicht nur die Kommunen im Globalen Süden, sondern auch deutsche Kommunen und ihre Bürger*innen von den Partnerschaften. Dies ist selbst dann der Fall, wenn Lebensstandards sehr unterschiedlich sind. In Landau ist etwa der vom dortigen Freundeskreis Ruhango-Kigoma getragene Second Hand Markt einerseits Haupteinnahmequelle für die Projekte in Ruanda. Andererseits ermöglicht er einkommensschwachen deutschen Haushalten, gebrauchte Waren kostengünstig einzukaufen und sorgt für deren Weiterverwendung durch „Upcycling“. Da beide Kommunen in den letzten Jahren von Überflutungen betroffen waren, konzentriert sich der Verwaltungsaustausch auf Diskussionen, wie die Auswirkungen von Starkregenereignissen abgemildert werden können. In der Partnerschaft zwischen Leipzig und Addis Abeba hat das Projekt „Inklusive Stadt“ die Fortbildung von Vertreter*innen beider Städte über behindertengerechte Stadtentwicklung ermöglicht.

Drittens senden die preisgekrönten Partnerschaften eine wichtige politische Botschaft – durch Ihre Beständigkeit entgegen nationalistischer Alleingänge oder politischer Krisen. So überdauerte die seit 1984 bestehende Partnerschaft zwischen Landau und dem Ruhango-Distrikt auch den Völkermord in Ruanda 1994. Mit der Beteiligung am Bau eines Versöhnungszentrums 2008 wurde zur Aufklärung und zum gesellschaftlichen Frieden beigetragen. Die Partnerschaft zwischen Karlsruhe und Brusque engagiert sich für klima- und umweltfreundliche Entwicklung – „unter dem Radar“ der Politik einer nationalen Regierung, die den Klimawandel leugnet.

Das Beispiel Brusque zeigt allerdings auch, dass der kommunale Handlungsspielraum vor dem Hintergrund nationaler politischer und institutioneller Vorgaben nicht selten begrenzt ist. Dies gilt im Übrigen auch für das entwicklungspolitische Engagement deutscher Städte, Gemeinden und Landkreise. Die Zuständigkeit für die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit liegt hier bei Bund und Ländern. Für die Kommunen gehört sie zu den freiwilligen Handlungsfeldern und ist folglich häufig unterfinanziert.

Trotz zum Teil schwieriger Rahmenbedingungen: Die preisgekrönten Partnerschaften verdeutlichen einmal mehr die wichtige Rolle von Städten und Kommunen für eine nachhaltige globale Entwicklung. Die Kooperationsbeziehungen ermöglichen die Mobilisierung und den Austausch von Wissen, Fachkenntnissen, Technologie und finanziellen Ressourcen (SDG 17.16) – in vielen Fällen mit Lerneffekten in „beide Richtungen“. Die Preisverleihung im Rahmen des Deutschen Nachhaltigkeitstages leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag dazu, das Engagement deutscher Kommunen für die Umsetzung der Agenda 2030 (kurzfristig) sichtbarer zu machen. Um das lokale Potenzial für die globale Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit auch mittel- und langfristig noch stärker auszuschöpfen, ist eine verstärkte politische, finanzielle und beratende Unterstützung unabdingbar.

Dieser Beitrag wurde im Rahmen einer laufenden SKEW-beauftragten Studie des Deutschen Instituts für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) zur kommunalen Entwicklungspolitik in Deutschland verfasst. In enger Kooperation findet zeitgleich die Evaluierung zur Kommunalen Entwicklungspolitik statt, die vom  Deutschen Evaluierungsinstitut der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (DEval) durchgeführt wird.

Against the background of degrading livelihoods, mounting inequalities and related protests in rural areas of Morocco and Algeria, this article mobilises the concept of the rural social contract to analyze changes in the strategic alliances between central regimes and rural elites. It reveals how economic liberalisation reforms have affected the agricultural sector and changed the way both regimes grant their supporters access to water and land in exchange for loyalty. It also highlights that in order to maintain social peace in a context of increasing difficulties for the farmers, regimes tolerate rule-transgression in the use of water, land, and other production resources which, in turn, threatens the sustainability of current arrangements.

Eine neue Studie im Auftrag des Beirats Zivile Krisenprävention und Friedensförderung zeigt: Das in den Leitlinien „Krisen verhindern, Konflikte bewältigen, Frieden fördern” entwickelte friedenspolitische Leitbild der Bundesregierung spiegelt sich bisher nur selektiv in den afrikabezogenen Strategien wider und bedarf einer stärkeren Übersetzung in die deutsche Afrikapolitik.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has successfully set a normative framework for global cooperation, including development cooperation. Yet, the implementation of this agenda is characterised by power struggles and unresolved contestations. Hence, it is uncertain whether the 2030 Agenda will be achieved. Therefore, a key question is how different narratives and norms in development cooperation can be reconciled to achieve the 2030 Agenda. As a response and guiding framework, this chapter explores the concept of “contested cooperation”, drawing on research on contested global governance and contested multilateralism. Applying this conceptual perspective not only yields theoretical insights but also helps in better understanding the practical challenges that development actors face in implementing the 2030 Agenda.

This chapter argues that most efforts to mobilise non-state and subnational actor engagement so far has insufficiently contributed to goal coherence - the balanced implementation of internationally agreed goals. Despite the increased level of attention being given to the polycentric nature of sustainable development and climate governance - especially the role of non-state and subnational actors - the predominant focus of both policy-makers and researchers has been on filling functional gaps, for example closing the global mitigation gap, or financing gaps. As a result, voluntariness and self-organisation in polycentric governance could increase the level of incoherence. Insights on emerging polycentric structures should be combined with tools that map (goal) coherence. The combination of these fields of knowledge could inform supportive policies, for instance in development cooperation to ensure greater coherence in implementing sustainable development priorities.

With the 2030 Agenda, the development paradigm has shifted towards global sustainable development, but modes of cooperation between actors in the Global North and South still cling to traditional patterns of cooperation, reproducing antiquated knowledge hierarchies. Departing from technical cooperation, transnational research cooperation may be a more equitable mode of cooperation with the potential of developing innovative solutions for sustainable development. Yet, its potential is not fully realised. Science policies on the national level and global governance mechanisms need to set a beneficial framework, ensuring that expectations of partnerships and outcomes for global sustainable development can be met. The current incoherence of national science and development cooperation policies may be aggravated by existing gaps in global governance mechanisms in view of sustainability-oriented transnational research cooperation.

Universality is one of the key novel characteristics of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By applying a functional approach to external policies, this chapter challenges traditional notions of development cooperation and shows that the agenda’s means of implementation as well as their application are lopsided towards so-called developing countries. However, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals critically depends on the agenda’s implementation also within the so-called developed countries as well as between them. Therefore, the function of development cooperation to shape conditions within other countries by using cooperative and promotional instruments should be exerted also vis-à-vis “developed countries”. International cooperation for sustainable development needs to become universal, multimodal, mutual, and transformative if it wants to deliver change, not aid.

Development cooperation (DC) is shaped by norms. We aim at filling a gap of research on DC by using the academic debates in international relations on norms. Contrary to interpretations that consider developed countries as norm-makers and developing countries as norm-takers, our analysis provides evidence that—and highlights how—Southern agents have influenced the processes of norm-setting and norm-diffusion for DC. The OECD was the dominant norms “entrepreneur” for a long period of time; more recently, developing countries have played a significant role in setting DC norms. We identify the diverging norms for official development assistance and South-South cooperation and the interrelationship between both norm systems. Thus, norm-making, norm-taking, and norm-diffusion of two competing norm clusters are key terms of the contribution.

This chapter analyses the development discourse on foreign aid to explore areas of convergence between the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors and Chinese development cooperation. We apply the concept of “coalition magnets”—the capacity of an idea to appeal to a diverse set of individuals and groups, and to be used strategically by policy entrepreneurs to frame interests, mobilise support, and build coalitions. Three coalition magnets are identified: mutual benefit, development results, and the 2030 Agenda. The chapter finds that coalition magnets can be used to influence political change and concludes that applying a discursive approach provides a new conceptual opportunity for fostering closer engagement between OECD-DAC and Chinese development cooperation actors.

Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires significant behavioural changes from a variety of actors, including actors in development cooperation. Within this context, this chapter discusses important political as well as technical factors that influence the contribution of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC) and its monitoring framework to the implementation of the SDGs. These are, among other things, the complementarity of the GPEDC monitoring framework to the SDGs; the limited enthusiasm of development partners from the Global South, in particular China and India; the limited attention paid to the platform in general and the monitoring framework in particular by member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); as well as the missing interpretative evaluations and follow-up processes in the aftermath of the respective monitoring rounds.

Partnerships with private-sector actors are widely considered crucial for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, but the ways of how to engage best with actors from the private sector in development cooperation are contested. Often it is feared that influential companies will hijack unregulated partnership initiatives for their own benefits. This chapter investigates different levels of engagement for partnerships with private-sector actors and discusses how they can be more successful. We show that it matters whether it is envisioned to incentivise and regulate private-sector engagement at the global or at the country level. The chapter’s main findings support context-specific approaches and emphasise the need to strengthen national development agencies as focal points for private-sector engagement in development cooperation.

This chapter provides an overview of how different narratives and norms in development cooperation can be reconciled towards achieving the 2030 Agenda based on the overall handbook. Drawing on key insights from different handbook chapters, we recap the narratives and norms that are shaping development cooperation, highlight the existing as well as new institutional sites of contestations, and provide examples of how international governance structures can enhance collaboration and cooperation. Looking forward, we conclude that researchers should continue to explore the duality of contestation and cooperation, as it is key to understanding and shaping the policy field of development cooperation.