The German government wants to cut humanitarian and development aid by €2 billion this year. The foreign office plans to halve its budget for the global South. What do these cuts mean for development organizations and their efforts on the ground?
00:00Lives are on the line over budget cuts, but the German government, unmoved by protest,
00:06still set on slashing aid for development NGOs.
00:10Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is on trend.
00:12He's tabled a budget proposal that, like the US, France, the United Kingdom and other donor countries,
00:18would scale back funds for the fight against hunger and poverty, especially in Africa.
00:25Florian Westphal heads the German section of the international aid organization Save the Children.
00:31He is deeply varied. His staff may soon have to make heartbreaking choices.
00:36In the most extreme cases, it's a life or death issue for children.
00:41I recently went to Syria and I visited one of our nutritional centers, severely malnourished babies.
00:47We reach about 1,300 of these kids in northeast Syria, but the funding is only secured for a few more months.
00:54And if there's no more money, some of those babies will unfortunately die if we can't help them.
01:00From the headquarters in Berlin, Florian Westphal is calling a project manager in South Sudan,
01:05where thousands of refugees arrive from Sudan devastated by civil war.
01:09The project serves displaced, malnourished children who arrive without parents.
01:14There was a lot of, you know, pleading from the communities that we should continue with those activities,
01:20because they are really, really important for the children who are in displacement or who are experiencing the war in Sudan.
01:27Take care, Chris, yeah?
01:29The aid sector has already been hit by drastic budget cuts in the United States.
01:33Now it's facing another devastating blow if European countries pull out funding too.
01:38I think a perfect storm is a fair description, to be honest. I think this is unprecedented.
01:44We are extremely worried about the impact that these aid cuts will be having.
01:49We are closing down nutrition programs in Somalia.
01:52We are stopping feeding programs for people in Sudan, which is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
01:58International donor conferences like this recent one in Sevilla have only minor influence on concrete budget planning in Germany,
02:06amidst the spokesperson of Germany's foreign office in Berlin.
02:10We are indeed reducing the budget plan to the level before the 2015 refugee crisis.
02:16This means that we need to become more effective and actually we have to prioritize.
02:20However, I would also like to emphasize once again that Germany remains one of the largest humanitarian donors in the world, despite this reduction.
02:32One of the big players among the aid organizations is Miserior, a global charity of the Catholic Church with thousands of projects in the global south.
02:41By cutting aid, Germany will lose its credibility and global reach, says the head of Miserior in Germany.
02:49We know how German tax money and donations can make a difference in the world.
02:55Therefore, in our view, cuts represent a great responsibility.
03:00With a large budget and major challenges, we appeal for the wise use of what provides security and peace to the world,
03:07what can avert humanitarian disasters. Cuts and further cuts are irresponsible.
03:13Miserior and other NGOs hope to undo the budget cuts during talks with the Bundestag, the German Parliament. A final decision is due in September.
03:28Monday, travelling, from the same officer Gard
03:33on, from several several occasions, to the larger communities of St. Louis case Canada as well.
03:38Friday of the pandemic at a time for caring for many Americans.
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