Anniversary

Growing engagement

Five years of commitment were palpable in Bonn’s Bundeskunsthalle on 9 February as leaders, staff and 450 partners from municipalities and civil society celebrated Engagement Global’s (EG) fifth anniversary. The agency works on behalf of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and has grown significantly since its formation.
Moving the world forward – at the anniversary of Engagement Global in the form of balloons. Engagement Global/Neil Baynes Moving the world forward – at the anniversary of Engagement Global in the form of balloons.

“Those who sow engagement will reap engagement”, Friedrich Kitschelt, the BMZ’s state secretary, said in his opening address. Development work concerns the whole of society, he insisted, and EG facilitates relevant contributions by civil society, municipalities, associations, foundations, churches and schools. The agency provides information, does awareness raising, advises individuals as well as groups and financially supports development projects. D+C/E+Z are published on behalf of EG.

Jens Kreuter, the managing director of EG, praised his employees’ good work and the partners’ commitment: “EG was established in 2012 with the mandate to foster commitment to development in Germany. We have achieved such commitment thanks to excellent cooperation with civil society and municipalities.”

EG works on behalf of Germany’s Federal Government and is financed by the BMZ. Since 2012, the budget has almost tripled from around € 82 million to € 244 million. The number of employees doubled to 380 in the same period, and the number of project partners, programmes and participants grew significantly too.

According to Kitschelt, the growth of EG follows a trend. The interest of society in development policy has risen, he said, assuring that the government will continue to support and – if necessary – defend civil society worldwide.

The anniversary also marked the beginning of the year-long partnership of the City of Bonn and Engagement Global. Many events are planned in this context. “Engagement starts locally,” Bonn’s Mayor Ashok Sridharan said and added that it must be fostered and supported.


Link

Engagement Global:
https://www.engagement-global.de/homepage.html

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