DAAD and GIZ enter into a strategic partnership

Bonn. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH are planning to work together more closely in future in the higher education sector. Dr Dorothea Rüland, DAAD Secretary General and Dr Christoph Beier, Deputy Chairman of the GIZ Management Board, met in Bonn on 21 February to sign a framework agreement to this effect. The objective is to make cooperation even more efficient and effective and to synergise more pro-actively.

Rolling out joint projects funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is not a new idea for DAAD and GIZ, who are already assisting partners to develop needs-oriented courses of study and improve research and teaching as well as create stronger international networks and alliances. In the latest joint initiative focusing on research and policy consultancy, German and Brazilian universities are playing an important part in driving forward efficient energy use and renewable energy sources in Brazil.

Now this successful cooperation is to be expanded further, both in Germany and abroad. With this move, DAAD and GIZ are responding to the growing importance of higher education and academic research for sustainable development today. The agreement sees DAAD and GIZ undertaking, for example, to pool their competences even further, to keep each other’s interests in mind when engaging in dialogue with partners and potential clients, and to ensure that existing networks are available to both.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federal enterprise with worldwide operations. It supports the German Government in international cooperation for sustainable development and in international education work. GIZ supports people and societies in shaping their own futures and improving living conditions.