Save-the-date: Integrated, inclusive, in partnership? Germany’s National Security Strategy and international cooperation

Bonn Symposium

23 November 2023, Bonn, Deutsche Welle

For the first time in its history, Germany has published a National Security Strategy. In his foreword, Chancellor Scholz emphasises the importance of partnerships “with the up and coming countries of Asia, Africa and America”. However, the opportunities offered by strategically shaping the relations with these countries are not further elaborated.

At the Bonn Symposium 2023, international experts from politics, academia and civil society will join us to discuss the implications of the Security Strategy for Germany’s international cooperation, how countries beyond the main global players (especially in Africa) view the Strategy and how Germany can and should shape its relations with them in a partnership-based and sustainable manner.

Mark the 23rd of November in your calendar now! More information will follow soon.

Reminder: Can cities save the world? The impact of city networks and city partnerships for peace and development

Berlin Summer Dialogue 2023

19 September 2023, Berlin

Only twelve days to go until this year’s Berlin Summer Dialogue! We will discuss with international experts to what extent bilateral twinning agreements and multilateral city networks contribute to crises prevention and sustainable development. The full programme is available here.

Register now via our website.

Promotion of agricultural finance and mechanisation in Zambia

AVE Good Practice 28b and 30b

In Zambia, smallholder farmers often lack the financial resources to invest in their farms to increase productivity. The offers of banks and micro-finance institutions on the other hand are not always adapted to farmers’ needs. In the light of these challenges, AVE Good Practice 28b examines the potential and risks of developing and providing savings-related products and, above all, credit products tailored to smallholder agriculture. AVE Good Practice 30b, on the other hand, looks into an innovative leasing model that aims to enable smallholder farmers to acquire agricultural machinery and thus modernise their farming methods.

The publications are part of the INEF project “Pathways out of Poverty, Vulnerability and Food Insecurity“ (AVE), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Islamism in Kenya

New blog entry

In a new contribution to the Africa at LSE blog, Jannis Saalfeld and Hassan Mwakimako examine the history of Islamist activism in coastal Kenya. The authors find that local jihadist radicalisation has been accompanied by equally relevant process of Islamist moderation away from violence and militancy.

Building Bridges – Journalistic Initiatives(Re)establishing Trust between World Regions

sef: Session at the DW Global Media Forum

On June 20, 2023, Josephine Karianjahi, Kenyan journalist and founder of Africa Podfest, and Mercy Abang, journalist from Nigeria and co-executive director of Hostwriter, discussed with moderator Frank Hofmann how good journalism can help rebuild lost trust between different world regions.
The conference report, which also presents some concrete journalistic initiatives, is now available on our website.

The Development and Peace Foundation (sef:) was founded in 1986 on the initiative of Willy Brandt. It is a cross-party and non-profitmaking organisation. sef: provides an international high-level forum for shared thinking on the complex challenges of globalisation. It is linked to the Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) by a cooperation agreement. The aim of INEF’s application-oriented research is to build bridges between theory and practice. It is one of three host institutions of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research.