Approach
The German Biosecurity Programme is jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), the German Federal Research Institute for Animal Health (Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, FLI) and the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB).
The programme is implementing projects in nine partner countries as well as two supraregional projects, each of which contributes to one or more of six overarching goals:
- The capacity to prevent and respond to biological risks is improved.
- Highly pathogenic agents are detected and diagnosed more reliably.
- Networks are coordinating their work more effectively in the event of biological risks.
- International standards for handling biological pathogens are increasingly applied to protect against unintentional damage (biosafety) and possible misuse (biosecurity).
- There is greater awareness of the principles, practices and instruments involved in the non-proliferation of biological weapons.
- Germany and its partner countries exchange information and experience with respect to biosecurity on a sustainable scientific basis.
In close cooperation with RKI, the project focuses on three priority countries: Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia. The project also promotes strengthening expertise in the area of biosecurity in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The Programme Office, which is jointly operated by GIZ and RKI staff, also supports the Federal Foreign Office with the steering of and external communications for the German Biosecurity Programme.