Schulze in favour of rethinking development policy
At a conference in Berlin, the Federal Minister also talked about critically examining the past.
Berlin (d.de) – At the Berlin conference "Rethinking development policy: How to confront coloniality”, Federal Minister Svenja Schulze welcomed numerous international guests and engaged in discussion with them on the question of how to achieve a fairer partnership model in the context of global cooperation. It also emerged clearly how important it is for the Global North to critically reappraise its colonial past: according to Schulze, this continues to impact negatively on the underlying conditions of cooperation.
The Minister explained: “At the Ministry of Development, we’re exploring how future collaboration should be structured so as to better meet development policy’s core objective of reducing global inequality. An open approach and respect for a variety of positions, interests, and perspectives are fundamental here – such an approach makes development policy an important part of the solution in overcoming colonial legacies.” It also involved direct benefits for Germany, she added: “Anyone who is prepared to take a serious look at the colonial past and learn from it will be better able to maintain existing partnerships and build new ones in the world today.”