Germany's new minister for development, Reem Alabali-Radovan, wants to build new alliances with the Global South. On the sidelines of Hamburg's Sustainability Conference, she told DW that more private funding is necessary as aid budgets fall victim to spending cuts.
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00:00And with us at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference is the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Riem Alabali Radovan. Nice to meet you.
00:13Mrs. Minister, in the face of the US withdrawal, you want to reposition development policy and forge new alliances. With whom? And what are your criteria for these alliances?
00:28So Germany has and will play a leading role in combating global crises such as the climate crisis but also combating hunger and poverty.
00:42And for that we want to build and strengthen alliances with countries of the global south.
00:49We want to build a north-south commission for that and I mean there is no particular criteria for that. We want to build strong alliances with a lot of countries and I'm looking forward to do that as a minister in the next couple of months.
01:10The fat years of development aid budgets are over. This is clear. What can Germany offer?
01:19So there is budget cuts everywhere and it especially hits the development field and the international cooperation very hard. At the same time we have to look for new opportunities.
01:35So I think we will have to look more into how we can bring together the public sector and the private economy in combating global crises.
01:45And that's what we are doing at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference. Find new solutions, creative solutions also for the budget questions.
01:56A specific example in those days is the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. What needs to be done especially by Germany?
02:06Well, we are facing a man-made humanitarian crisis in Gaza right now and we are very clear in the German government. We need humanitarian aid being delivered to the people in Gaza.
02:24The hostages need to be released by the Hamas and we need a ceasefire that is very very urgent and this is also what we stand for as German government.
02:35Is there still work to do within the government?
02:39No, we are very clear on that and there is a clear common position.
02:44And you have announced that you want to shape development cooperation as a sustainable security policy. What do you mean by that concretely?
02:55So development policy is a strong part also of security policy and we have to bring this together. International cooperation, development policy and also defense policy and I think we have to see it all together.
03:13So there is no peace, no sustainable peace when there is still such big inequalities in the world when we face those big crises. So development policy is key to peace and security.
03:28And you also mentioned that there was a declaration on AI and sustainability. What is the goal? What is your hope?
03:37My hope is of course that also AI benefits us in development policies, but also in economic cooperation. And my hope is that AI is also a solution for the lack of budget that we're facing right now to find digital solutions for the problems that we're facing.
03:59But for me, it's also very clear that AI has to also benefit the people and especially the people in the global south.
04:10Thank you very much, Mrs. Ministers, for your positions and for the interview.
04:14Thank you very much.
04:15Thank you very much.