Germany is the world’s second-largest donor — but new leaders are now in charge of the country and their attitude to aid may be different. We look at what happens next.
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German billions
Germany is the second-largest provider of official development assistance in the world, with a budget of €33 billion ($35.6 billion) in 2022.
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But that budget is likely to get several billion smaller over the next few years, as a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz cuts away at the country’s spending.
Devex contributor Burton Bollag spoke to German aid leaders to find out where the cuts are falling and what the likely impacts will be.
Read: How Germany is cutting billions from foreign aid (Pro)
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Funding activity
We publish tenders, grants, and other funding announcements on our Funding Platform. Here are some of the ones which have been viewed the most in the past 10 days.
The Asian Development Bank has announced a project to provide quality and affordable health care in Kazakhstan.
The U.S. Department of State has announced an open competition to strengthen civil society participation and climate advocacy in South Asia.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has released a €50 million ($53.6 million) project to support agriculture and other critical industries as well as preserve livelihoods in Ukraine.
The United Nations is seeking a firm to provide technical assistance in developing solar photovoltaic irrigation systems, or SPIS, models in Guatemala.
USAID has launched a new $70 million nutrition project that focuses on women, children, and adolescent girls in Ethiopia.
The World Bank has approved a $195 million initiative to improve access to climate-resilient and inclusive infrastructure in the Senegal River Valley.
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Examining the evidence
Support for localization has become an article of faith for many in the development sector. Many see it as not only the right thing to do on principle, but also the most effective way to deliver aid in practice.
But evidence for the latter claim is lacking, at least in part because donors haven’t prioritized collecting any. And evidence is important, both for convincing policymakers, and for understanding how to implement localization as effectively as possible.
What evidence there is largely supports the idea that localization produces better results. But there are intriguing hints of cases where local organizations might not be the best choice.
Read: Does localization actually work? We look for evidence (Pro)
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Breaking the deadlock?
The United States is inching closer to releasing billions of dollars in aid funding, after a bill containing $95 billion of spending, including more than $10 billion of humanitarian aid, passed through the Senate. But the bill is likely to struggle to even come to a vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Read: US Senate approves $10B in emergency humanitarian aid funding
Related: Foreign aid 'red warning lights' to watch in the US Congress in 2024 (Pro)
+ Check out our page dedicated to the future of U.S. aid.
No overbilling
USAID has continued to defend its record on its controversial multibillion-dollar health supply chain project, which faced questions from a U.S. lawmaker following a recent investigation by Devex and The Bureau for Investigative Journalism.
“USAID is not aware of any overbilling or corruption by Chemonics International in implementing the USAID GHSC-PSM contract,” USAID Assistant Administrator Atul Gawande, who leads the agency’s Bureau for Global Health, wrote in his response to the U.S. Congress.
Read: No overbilling, corruption by Chemonics in supply chain project, says USAID
Background reading: 'Too big to fail' — How USAID's $9.5B supply chain vision unraveled
New boss at BHA
There’s a new leader at USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which responds to disasters, conflict, and crises worldwide.
Sonali Korde, who has been with USAID for nearly two decades, takes the role after the departure of Sarah Charles, who stepped down in January saying she was “tired.”
Read: Sonali Korde takes the helm of USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (Pro)
ICYMI: USAID humanitarian chief to step down in January (Pro)
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About the author
David Ainsworth@daveainsworth4
David Ainsworth is business editor at Devex, where he writes about finance and funding issues for development institutions. He was previously a senior writer and editor for magazines specializing in nonprofits in the U.K. and worked as a policy and communications specialist in the nonprofit sector for a number of years. His team specializes in understanding reports and data and what it teaches us about how development functions.
