30.05.2022
Change: moving from print to digital
The latest issue of akzente is dedicated to change. Indeed the magazine itself is part of a transformation – it will be shifting from print to digital
We are living through a time of great change. The latest issue of akzente magazine, entitled ‘Change’, looks at how creativity, enthusiasm and international cooperation can be brought into play to cope with these changing times. In a thought-provoking essay, publicist Ilija Trojanow reflects on societal, sociological and psychological barriers to transformation. He sees the power to imagine a different and better life as one of the main ways to break out of the status quo.
Feminist development policy for all
In an interview, the new Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze discusses her ideas for feminist international cooperation that is environmentally and socially sustainable. She stresses the importance of gender equality as a key human right that benefits societies worldwide: ‘Countless studies indicate that there is less hunger and poverty, and greater stability, when women and men share responsibility equally.’
A push for digitalisation with a view to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
In a guest article, Chair of the Management Board Tanja Gönner explores how ideas can be translated into action to bring about positive change, as she looks back on ten years of GIZ. She describes the challenges in a world with an increasing number of fragile contexts. Two thirds of our partner countries are now affected by conflicts, violence or crises. The world’s poorest countries are finding it more and more difficult to cope with the impacts of climate change. To forge ahead with positive change, one focus of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a push for digitalisation, Gönner stresses. After all: ‘If we fail to make greater use of digitalisation, we won’t come anywhere near achieving the SDGs.’
A report from West Africa illustrates the shape that success stories can take. The story takes readers on a trip through rice paddies in the valley of the Senegal River and explains how farmers are using traditional and digital tools to hold their own on the market. A report from a venom research centre in Bangladesh gives us unexpected insights into a Bengali-German hospital partnership.
Projects in 120 countries are being driven forward by our partners and almost 24,000 GIZ staff, from 155 different countries in total. We spent a day with Peter Palesch, GIZ country director in Ethiopia, to get a feel for his typical working day. And finally, six people around the globe shed light on the dedication that GIZ teams bring to their work.
However, it is not only the content of akzente that reflects change. This is the last printed issue of the magazine before it switches from print to digital. We will meet our readers where they already obtain most of their information – online. Reports, interviews and background information about international cooperation and GIZ’s main priority areas can be found on GIZ’s website and social media channels, with videos, audio material and animations providing more in-depth information.