German government faces criticism over planned development aid cuts

Germany’s black‑red coalition is set to lower its official development assistance for the fifth time in a row, planning to cut the budget from €13.8 billion in 2022 to about €9.5 billion by 2027 and also reduce humanitarian funding in the foreign ministry.

The two largest Christian churches – the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Central Committee of German Catholics – issued a joint appeal signed by Anna‑Nicole Heinrich, Irme Stetter‑Karp and Susanne Bei der Wieden, warning that “whoever saves on development, health and people’s well‑being today will pay for crises, conflicts and instability tomorrow.” They urged the government to halt the cuts, citing past successes such as a halving of global child mortality, reduced HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, and increased school attendance for millions of children.

Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan (SPD) also warned that further reductions would undermine Germany’s influence in Africa, Latin America and Asia. She stressed the need to keep aid projects, for example assistance to Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, and cautioned against the abrupt withdrawals seen in other countries, saying such moves “only exacerbate conflicts and crises.”