Globalisation means new challenges for development cooperation. Global interdependencies are making themselves felt in everyday life; development processes in one region also impact on individuals on distant continents. With the experience they have amassed throughout the world, development cooperation actors often take on a bridging function between regions. They also have an increasingly important role to play in other policy fields, such as climate change and the environment, peace and security, and economic and social development. The global political architecture is undergoing a transformation, with groups such as the G8 and G20 becoming involved in development cooperation as well as other policy fields.

In our partner countries, the players involved are also changing. Alongside bilateral and multilateral development cooperation organisations, new actors are emerging, including major international foundations and civil society groups. Emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and South Korea today support development projects in poorer countries within the framework of South-South cooperation. When GTZ joins a South-South cooperation arrangement on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), we speak of tripartite cooperation. Today, international partnerships underscore the global nature of development cooperation. These partnerships are indispensable in our efforts to enhance the effectiveness of development cooperation through jointly developed concepts, complementary services and the competitive drive for ideas.

GTZ maintains international partnerships with bilateral development organisations based in neighbouring European countries, including Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), as well as agencies from Japan (JICA), Australia (AusAID) or the USA (USAid). Multilateral partners include the European Union, the World Bank, the OECD, regional development banks and UN specialised organisations.

Our Japanese counterparts are, for instance, interested in capacity development measures that GTZ is implementing with its partners in Ghana and Afghanistan, and together we are reviewing the lessons learned in technical cooperation in various countries. French and German experts are cooperating on the production of vocational education strategies and programmes as well as looking into the modalities of DC in the future. The Netherlands Government has contracted GTZ to implement energy supply measures in African states. Such cofinancing arrangements are increasingly being used by other donors too. GTZ also cooperates within the framework of international and European networks, such as the Practitioner Network, the European Network of Implementing Development Agencies (EUNIDA) and the Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD), in which it plays an active part. The joint participation of several German organisations in international networks is a supportive factor.

GTZ itself learns from the very different international organisations with which it cooperates, from their specific mandates, their internal organisational culture, their technical expertise, regional experience and values. Drawing on this actor diversity, GTZ seeks to harness synergies and to ensure effective joint support that addresses the different conditions found in developing countries.

Examples of international cooperation arrangements

• AusAID: GTZ consults closely with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) on international cooperation issues; the two organisations coordinate their activities in various sectors at country level, for example in Viet Nam in coastal management.
• Tripartite cooperation: Recently, GTZ has been involved in various successful tripartite cooperation arrangements, notably in Latin America (Brazil, Chile and Mexico) as well as in Asia and Africa. These projects involve 'new donors', a developing country and an agency such as GTZ. One example of such an arrangement is in the integrated waste management sector.

Partnerships with international organisations

• European Union
  ec.europa.eu
• Worldbank
  www.worldbank.org
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
  www.oecd.org
• European Network of Implementing Development Agencies (EUNIDA)
  www.eunida.eu
• Agence Française de Développement (AFD )
  www.afd.fr