Chairman of the GIZ Management Board retires

Recognising a lifetime of achievement

Berlin. Yesterday 200 invited guests bid farewell in Berlin to Dr Bernd Eisenblätter, Chairman of the Management Board of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

German Federal Minister Dirk Niebel thanked Eisenblätter on behalf of the German Government for his many years of service and in particular for his long involvement with GIZ. ‘The company has developed – you have developed the company – during the nearly 20 years you have spent at GTZ and GIZ. You set the course and steered resolutely towards it,’ said Niebel. Today GIZ is a strong and effective service provider which operates on behalf of the German Federal Government in over 130 countries worldwide. Its main focus remains sustainable development.

Rita Süssmuth, former President of the German Federal Parliament, offered a personal vote of thanks to the departing Chairman of the Management Board: ‘As a global citizen, you have made the world your home. And the question you have asked is not what have we to offer, but what have we to learn. Your principle is one of mutual not unilateral learning.’

When he retires at the end of the month, Eisenblätter will hand over to the new Chair of the Management Board, Tanja Gönner.

Eisenblätter began his career abroad. After obtaining a doctorate in political science and law, he was Country Director and Project Advisor responsible for the Arab countries and North Africa at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Egypt from 1977 to 1981. During this period he was also visiting lecturer at Ain Shams University in Cairo. In 1981, Eisenblätter moved to Brazil, where he continued to work for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in a similar role.

From 1986 to 1993, Eisenblätter headed the Programme Department of the German Development Service (DED) in Berlin, holding power of attorney as a member of the extended Board of Directors.

In 1993, Bernd Eisenblätter joined GTZ as Director of the Country Department for Latin America and Maghreb. He became Managing Director in 1996, and was appointed Chairman of the Managing Directors on 12 March 2010. Since January 2011, he has been Chairman of the GIZ Management Board.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federal enterprise with worldwide operations. We support the German Government in the fields of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education. Through our work, we assist people and societies in shaping their own futures and improving living conditions.