GERMAN COOPERATION

German-Sierra Leonean relations are based on a longstanding cooperation, interrupted only temporarily because of the civil war. Since 1999 this cooperation has been focusing mostly on activities to redress the results of the civil war. Until 2002, contributions were mainly channeled, as priority measures, to the DD&R process, the financing of the Special Court of Justice, the UNAMSIL peace mission and were made available in the form of food, emergency, refugee and other humanitarian assistance.

Analogous to the Sierra Leonean Poverty Programme (PRSP) of February 2005, Germany is now active with measures to prevent a further spreading of HIV/AIDS (Social Marketing Programme), with micro finance sector programmes, poverty-oriented economic advancement and the generation of employment possibilities as contribution to a pacification of the country. The German bilateral development cooperation programmes are, as a rule, implemented by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau and/or the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit.

In order to achieve nation-wide food security as desired by 2007, Germany is assisting, inter alia, a programme in Kailahun and Kono. At the same time, it supports, in cooperation with the FAO, the Right to Food Secretariat in Sierra Leone, the Operation Feed the Nation, cocoa marketing projects, a seeds project and inland fisheries.

As a contribution to enhancing Good Governance, Germany is assisting the Anti-Corruption Commission and, with its support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it furthers reconciliation and peace consolidation.

Finally, Germany also participates in the UNDP "Arms for Development Programme".

GTZ

The GTZ was established in 1975. It is organised as a private company owned by the German Federal Government. The company works on a public benefit basis, using all funds generated as profits exclusively for projects in international cooperation.

The GTZ is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. It provides viable, forward-looking solutions for political, economic, ecological and social development in a globalised world. GTZ promotes complex reforms and change processes, often working under difficult conditions. Its corporate objective is to improve people's living conditions on a sustainable basis. The GTZ mainly works for the German Federal Government. Its main client is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The company also operates on behalf of other German ministries, partner-country governments and international clients, such as the European Commission, the United Nations and the World Bank, as well as on behalf of private enterprises. Currently, GTZ is implementing some 2,700 development projects and programmes in over 130 countries. In 2003 the turnover was almost 900 million euro. Of the circa 10,000 employees, some 1,000 people are employed at the Head Office in Eschborn near Frankfurt am Main.

The main focus in international cooperation is on so-called Technical Cooperation. Far from being only centered on transferring technical knowledge, this primarily involves communicating knowledge that enables people to shape their present and future on their own. For this, GTZ strengthens individual initiative and the capabilities of people and organisations, and lays the basis for stable development - for future generations as well. In the work, this is what GTZ means by sustainability.

KfW ( German Development Bank)

The objective of Germany's development cooperation is to improve the economic and social conditions of people in developing countries. One of the most important instruments which the German government employs to reach this objective is "Financial Cooperation" (FC).
 
Financial Cooperation steps in where long-term capital is lacking, where the market fails or does not yet function adequately. This is where KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW development bank) is called upon:
 
As the German Development Bank it supports developing countries with investments in infrastructure, financial systems and environmental protection. This way it encourages the introduction of technical, economic and institutional innovations.
The creation of efficient financial systems offers small and medium-sized enterprises new opportunities. We create opportunities for income and employment.
The reduction of poverty is the overriding objective of FC.
In crisis regions, for instance, it contributes towards stabilising social conditions by financing employment programmes.
Its financing operations are not directed at isolated projects with limited local effects. KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW development bank) supports its partners in overcoming structural obstacles and initiating an economically sustainable and socially just development. KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW development bank) concentrates its operations in a country on selected priority areas. This enables its funds to be applied more efficiently.