Bonn Appeal 2008

The "Bonn Appeal" was published in September 2008 by an initiative group and subsequently supported by signatories. It was expanded and deepened by the "Bonn Appeal Plus" published in March 2009.

"A different development policy!"

After half a century of human and financial development aid for Africa, we realize that our policy has failed. The results have fallen far short of expectations.

[Appeal Plus]

The main reasons for this failure are two assumptions:

• Firstly: The "North" can develop Africa.
  However, like every person and every society, Africa can only develop itself. Furthermore, human dignity dictates that every individual and every society must first seek responsibility for development within themselves.
  This awareness has been largely destroyed in Africa because foreign aid workers have taken too much responsibility for themselves. However, the more responsibility we take for Africa's development, the more we encourage the denial of responsibility by those primarily responsible for it.
• Secondly: The "North" can achieve Africa's development through redistribution.
  The equation "more money = more development" does not work. Nevertheless, it still dominates development policy today. Money has often even harmed development because it has paralyzed individual initiative. Political decisions to double development aid for Africa are unreasonable and dangerous. The same applies to the tendency to allocate more and more money as "budget support". This facilitates corruption and embezzlement.

[Appeal Plus]

We demand:

• a clear enforcement of responsibilities.

[Appeal Plus]

• the reorientation of cooperation: wherever possible, away from state partners and towards social groups that organize and manage themselves.

[Appeal Plus]

• Transferring decision-making authority over bilateral development cooperation to the German embassies, which will be staffed accordingly.

[Appeal Plus]

• Focusing our aid on what has proven to be particularly worthy of support: Basic and vocational education, small loans and the labor-intensive and job-creating implementation of infrastructure measures.

[Appeal Plus]
 

If we do not want to be facing a similar situation to today in another half century, the course of development aid must be radically changed.

September 2008