DAAD and GIZ to step up HE cooperation towards SDGs

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German development agency GIZ have signed a declaration of intent aimed at stepping up cooperation in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH – German Corporation for International Cooperation, Ltd) is an agency headquartered in Bonn and Eschborn, near Frankfurt am Main, which is mainly commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to provide development cooperation services.

The declaration which GIZ has signed with the DAAD centres on joint projects and public relations activities addressing the significance of international collaboration in higher education regarding the SDGs.

“When it comes to education, sustainability and coping with this century’s anthropogenic crises, development cooperation and academic exchange seem the ideal partners,” said DAAD President Joybrato Mukherjee. “We can look back on longstanding and successful cooperation with GIZ, and with the new declaration, we seek to give joint activities additional impetus and a clear focus on the SDGs.”

Societal transformation

DAAD General Secretary Kai Sicks emphasises the role which the development of higher education plays in sustainable societal transformation in many countries of the Global South.
Sicks sees opportunities to concentrate the resources of the two partners in Bonn and more strongly focus their expertise on achieving the SDGs.

Bonn hosts the headquarters of a substantial number of organisations and institutions in the fields of higher education and research, development cooperation and environment, and the DAAD feels that the new declaration can further strengthen its role in this respect.

GIZ, formerly GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), and the DAAD have been working together in various areas since 1993. Between 2015 and 2020, the BMZ funded a total of 12 joint GIZ-DAAD projects, with the DAAD receiving around €35 million (US$41 million).

Examples include the German-Mongolian Institute for Resources and Technology (DMHT) in Nalaikh, a district of Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital; and the Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa (CENIT@EA) in Arusha, Tanzania. Planning is currently in progress for a joint project on educational perspectives for peaceful social coexistence in Iraq.

The two organisations also seek to make the results of cooperation more available to the public. This includes formulating common statements addressing the public and politicians on sustainable development topics of relevance to higher education.

To contact Michael Gardner, e-mail michael.gardner@uw-news.com