With its development policy, the Rhineland-Palatinate state government wants to contribute to fighting poverty worldwide, making globalization fairer and protecting the environment. In doing so, it is guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in September 2015 as a reference framework for policy in Rhineland-Palatinate. Development policy today is about more than projects and programs. It is about fundamental political, social, and economic changes that must take place worldwide. It is about a socially and ecologically just globalization, about fair trade structures, about climate and environmental protection. And it is about changes in patterns of living and consumption in Germany.
Against this background, the state's development policy includes the following focal points:
Sustainable procurement
Sustainable procurement contributes to improving the living and working conditions of many people in Africa, Asia and Latin America. For this reason, the state and municipalities in particular are called upon to include social and ecological criteria in public tenders on a binding basis. Within the framework of our training project "Rhineland-Palatinate buys sustainably!", which is carried out in cooperation with the development policy state network ELAN, we show municipalities how sustainable procurement can be achieved in a legally secure and practicable manner.
Municipal development policy
Municipalities are important actors in development policy. We motivate and support municipalities in their efforts to get involved with their own projects, e.g., in education work, municipal partnerships or sustainable procurement.
Educational work in schools
The state government wants to raise understanding for the situation in other countries, but also for global interrelationships. Children and young people should learn about the effects our actions have on people in other parts of the world and be sensitized to sustainable and socially just actions.
Information events on development policy issues
Together with partners in Rhineland-Palatinate, we organize information and discussion events on current development policy issues and participate in conferences and presentations.
Cooperation with civil society
We support associations, municipalities, schools, or churches in Rhineland-Palatinate that carry out development information and education projects in Germany or cooperate with partners in countries of the South.
Partnership with Rwanda
One focus of development policy in Rhineland-Palatinate is the partnership with Rwanda. In 1982, Rhineland-Palatinate and the Republic of Rwanda sealed the first partnership between a German and an African country. From the very beginning, the basic idea was to develop a so-called grassroots partnership, which was to be organized in a decentralized manner and close to the people. This form of grassroots partnership is based on encounters with mutual respect and esteem and aims to go beyond mere development cooperation to become a partnership in everyday, social and cultural life. Today, it enjoys an excellent reputation among the Rwandan population and is also deeply rooted in the Rhineland-Palatinate population.
People from both countries try to meet each other at eye level, exchange ideas and develop projects together. The partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda is organized in its structure in two parts: the Rwanda Department of the state government and the Rhineland-Palatinate/Rwanda Partnership Association.
The primary goals of the measures are to improve education, support women and participate in the areas of health care and nature conservation.
Within the framework of the approximately 200 school partnerships, the school situation in Rwanda is sustainably improved. Personal contact between children and young people as well as between teachers and school administrators from Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda are also promoted. Vocational training is another important factor in the education of Rwandans. Only with appropriate vocational training is it possible to train qualified skilled workers, who play an enormously important role in Rwanda's economic development.
Bringing people with disabilities into the partnership as important actors and thus further deepening the cooperation between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda is a new focus.
There are also more and more renewable energy and environmental protection projects. Rhineland-Palatinate's business community is involved in the partnership to further advance development in Rwanda.
Bringing people with disabilities into the partnership as important actors and thus further deepening the cooperation between Rhineland-Palatinate and Rwanda is a new focus.
There are also more and more renewable energy and environmental protection projects. Rhineland-Palatinate's business community is involved in the partnership to further promote development in Rwanda.
The partnership is also becoming increasingly involved in the fields of art, culture and sport. They act as a bridge of understanding and promote cooperation with and between the partners. Through the many encounter trips in recent years, young people in particular have been able to get to know the respective other culture and benefit from each other: Children and young people form the basis for the future of the partnership.
Further information: