At the beginning of this month, the German Cabinet unveiled its draft budget for BMZ — the government’s development ministry — for 2016, and the announcement was eye-catching: The budget will be raised 13.5 percent to 7.42 billion euros ($8 billion).
This increase is just the latest in what seems to be an annual rise of the development ministry’s budget since 2009, when it stood at 5.81 billion euros. The proposed increases were impressive across the board, with a further 600 million euros committed to countries affected by displacement, another 600 million euros toward health systems in Africa, and an extra 250 million euros in climate funding.
Although amounts have not yet been specified, there are pledges for BMZ to “increase its funding to fight global hunger and its investment in efforts to provide vocational education in North Africa and the Middle East” as well.