International cooperation Development Minister Schulze attends Munich Security Conference, launches initiative to support United Nations Development System

The Minister noted that, in view of unresolved crises and global challenges, there was a need for more international cooperation, common rules that everyone adheres to, and confidence-building, not bloc-building. During the multilateral meeting, Schulze said that it was obvious that global challenges in the areas of climate change and public health could only be met successfully through international cooperation.

The meeting was attended by a number of foreign ministers and development ministers present in Munich, for instance those of Peru, Morocco, the UK, Ireland, Norway, and Costa Rica, as well as representatives of France and Colombia. They all share the desire to strengthen multilateralism in general and the development work of the UN in particular.

This desire has found expression in a political declaration, the Joint Declaration of Intent by the coalition for an impactful United Nations Development System to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the BMZ had finalised in a process of global consultation in the last few weeks and then presented for discussion in Munich. In the Declaration, countries express their commitment to the multilateralism inherent in the United Nations, to international solidarity and to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Germany's initiative has already been joined by the UK, Norway, Ireland, France, Colombia and Costa Rica among others. Many other countries have announced that they are going to join as well. The BMZ will present the Declaration at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference in June 2025.

Peru's Foreign Minister Schialer, in his remarks, called development cooperation a strategic investment which makes sure that no country will be left behind in terms of development. Morocco's Energy Minister Benali started by calling for more efficiency and effectiveness, drawing attention to the new five-year strategic plans of the UN organisations and pointing out that these must not just be bureaucratic exercises. She also called for reforming the financial architecture, stating that this was the only way to restore the credibility of, and confidence in, the international system. UK Development Minister Dodds emphasised the progress that had been made and noted that the UN system was bigger than the sum of its parts.

The systemic approach generally played a central role in the lively discussion among participants. Several of them expressed their support for higher core contributions – which are funds that are not earmarked for specific projects – in order to keep the development system running in a more flexible manner, and their support for the UN Resident Coordinator system, with a view to boosting coherence and effectiveness.

Neema Lugangira, Member of Parliament from Tanzania, voiced an urgent call for continued support from UN donor countries and for the international community to stand together.

Schulze launched the initiative in response to the dramatic cuts which the United States is making to its voluntary contributions to UN organisations, all the way to leaving agencies altogether, and in response to the withdrawal of the world's biggest bilateral donor through the elimination of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In addition to the financial cuts, the UN is also facing the challenge of its mandates and tasks being cut back.

The highest-ranking German national in the United Nations, Achim Steiner, who is both head of the United Nations Development Programme and Vice-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group, highlighted the importance of the UN for the living situation of millions of people worldwide. He noted that the UN is able to launch operations in every place of the world within a matter of hours. For example, UNDP had responded right after the war broke out in Ukraine, helping to stabilise the provision of heat and energy. He also drew attention to major economic achievements such as the UNDP Sustainable Finance Hubs, which massively leverage original investments, generating billions of dollars in support. Organisations such as UNICEF and the World Food Programme are providing emergency and systematic assistance in hunger crises worldwide, Steiner noted.

With reference to the call for better coordination, Steiner called on member states to reform the system of over 50 funds and programmes that had evolved over the years, with each entity having its own vertical management. He also noted that the current ratio of development spending to defence spending was not contributing to more security.

Dr Benedikt Franke, Vice-Chairman and CEO of the Munich Security Conference and former advisor to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, had already pointed out at the beginning of the meeting that development and security are inextricably linked. He had therefore encouraged participants to engage in discussions beyond the like-minded group – this being an explicit purpose of the Munich Security Conference.