Context
The partner countries of German development cooperation have ratified the major international human rights agreements and, like Germany, committed themselves to implementing them. However, the human rights situation on the ground in many developing countries and emerging economies is characterised by serious human rights abuses in the political, civic, economic, social and cultural spheres.
The human rights concept published by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2011 underscores the centrality of human rights as a guiding principle and cross-cutting task of German development policy. Only by improving the human rights situation will it be possible to overcome poverty and violent conflicts at global level.
Objective
BMZ and its implementing organisations contribute systematically to improving human rights through their development policy activities.
Approach
The programme supports BMZ in positioning the topic of human rights at national and international level, for example, in the context of the reform of the World Bank's environmental and social safeguard policies and the shaping of the post-2015 agenda. It also advises BMZ on how to mainstream human rights into development-policy concepts and strategies. By providing training and advice to staff in the German implementing organisations, the programme enables them to expand their human rights expertise and apply it in their work. It reviews case studies of human rights approaches implemented successfully abroad and presents them to staff members as models of good practices. The programme works with the Deutsche Welle Akademie to pilot measures designed to promote the human right to freedom of expression in a number of cooperation countries.
It has also collaborated closely with the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) for many years. As part of this cooperation, the DIMR has set up a comprehensive electronic information portal for human rights and development cooperation.
Results
Human rights are now being mainstreamed into the preparation process of all BMZ-funded development projects. BMZ is also addressing human rights-related challenges and approaches to promoting human rights in its concepts and strategies, and in dialogue with the governments of its partner countries.
Thirteen new projects for strengthening human rights institutions at regional and national level have been established since 2009, one of them at the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. There has also been an increase in the number of projects and programmes of German development cooperation that pursue a human rights approach in their respective fields, including the water, health and education sectors.