Human Rights in German Development Policy. Part 1: The Human Rights Strategy and its Implementation

For example, it covers issues ranging from human rights violations in the context of increasing humanitarian crises to the situation of structurally highly marginalised groups in partner countries.  Some gaps exist, such as references to human rights violations in the contexts of digitalisation or fighting terrorism and crime.

Indeed, human rights aspects are largely mainstreamed in their procedures, processes and training programmes. However, important aspects of the human rights-based approach are often only partially implemented: for example, human rights standards and principles are only partially integrated into the planning and implementation of development projects.  Areas in need of improvement in this regard include the sustainable economic development and energy sectors and the general establishment of grievance mechanisms at project level.

The BMZ should assess the associated staffing needs and budget for the requisite staff. It should also ensure that projects aimed principally at strengthening human rights can be integrated into country portfolios more easily. Relative to the BMZ's overall portfolio, the proportion of such projects has stagnated since the human rights strategy was adopted in 2011.

In intergovernmental negotiations with partner countries, human rights issues are only partially addressed explicitly and thoroughly. Likewise, the allocation of funds is frequently not conditional upon the human rights situation in the partner country.

Promotion of human rights in partner countries can succeed if all Federal Government ministries take systematic and coordinated account of human rights throughout their work. The recent new supply chain legislation is an example of this.

The evaluation was completed in 2021. This is a summary of the findings and recommendations. The evaluation report sets out the findings and recommendations in full.