18 March 2015: The German Federal Cabinet agreed to increase its development budget by 13.2% to €7.4 billion, in addition to the already committed €7.5 billion, according to an announcement from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The funds will be used to: support environmental and natural resource protection, including the promotion of environmental and social standards in global supply chains; strengthen health systems, particularly immunization programs for children; tackle hunger; and address refugee crises, among other programmes.

This budget increase aims to send a strong signal on Germany’s commitment to setting new development goals through the post-2015 development agenda and a new climate change agreement in 2015, noted Germany’s Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Müller. He said the development budget demonstrates Germany’s responsibility for solving global development challenges.

As part of this decision, the Federal Government’s official development assistance (ODA) will increase to €10.3 billion for 2014-2019, making Germany the third largest ODA donor. [BMZ Press Release (in German)]