With the "Guidelines for Thuringian Development Cooperation", the Free State of Thuringia acknowledges its responsibility for development policy and for shaping a policy in line with the 2030 Agenda. The Thuringian state government sees development cooperation as a cross-cutting task, to the fulfillment of which the Thuringian sustainability strategy, the integration concept and the Thuringian education plan, as well as the energy and climate protection strategy, among others, also contribute significantly.
The state assumes its development policy responsibility together with the development policy actors of civil society. The "One World Network Thuringia" (Eine Welt Netzwerk Thüringen e. V. – EWNT) as an umbrella organization of the development policy commitment of the Thuringian non-governmental organizations is the most important cooperation partner of the Thuringian state government. In addition, the state supports the work of social groups, churches and other non-governmental development cooperation agencies. Sustainable educational work is at the heart of the state's development policy concept.
Since 2016, Thuringia has participated in the funding of the Eine-Welt-Promotorenprogramms, which is jointly supported by the federal and state governments. The aim is to strengthen interest in development policy issues, particularly within the framework of educational projects, and to awaken an understanding that the willingness of each individual to take action is an indispensable contribution on the path to a sustainable society and a fairer world. In Thuringia, the promoters focus on the areas of business, human rights, global learning and regional structural development. They strengthen knowledge and competence with regard to ecological and social sustainability, promote political participation and network civil society organizations, associations and projects in Thuringia and beyond. With projects in schools and educational institutions, they create an awareness of global interrelationships and contribute to reducing prejudice and xenophobia.
The Free State of Thuringia provides development policy support for the global South by funding projects initiated with great commitment by associations in Thuringia, some of which have been supported for many years. These include a major hospital project in Zomba, Malawi, in which Thuringia is participating as part of a federal/state project together with GIZ, and a school project in Mombasa, Kenya.