The German government has been criticised for reducing development aid

A summit devoted to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals agreed by the UN in 2000 was held on 20–22 September in New York. The summit was attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the Minister for Development Co-operation Dirk Niebel (FDP). The summit was used by the opposition parties for criticising the development policy of the German government, which will be unable to meet its ambitious international commitments in the immediate future.

Germany is the world’s third largest (after the USA and Japan) donor of development aid. In 2010, Germany will allocate to that purpose 0.4% of its GDP (6.1 billion euros). This amount will be gradually reduced in coming years due to the budget austerity measures being implemented until 2014. Thus, the size of German development aid will not correspond to the level of international commitments, according to which highly industrialised countries were to allocate 0.7% of their respective GDPs annually until 2015. The opposition parties (the SPD and the Greens) are criticising the present German government’s policy. The government has responded to the criticism from the political opposition and non-governmental organisations by focusing on the efficiency of development aid and co-operation with the governments of countries which receive development aid and not on the value of the funds allocated. <jus>