Germany's draft federal budget for 2025 includes sweeping cuts. The Economic Cooperation and Development Ministry (BMZ) is set to receive €10.3 billion ($12.1 billion) — nearly €1 billion less than in 2024. It's the second consecutive year that the budget has been reduced.

A glance back at 2022 underscores the scale of the decline: At that time, Germany was still spending €13.8 billion on development aid.

Michael Herbst, chair of the umbrella organization VENRO, which represents about 140 development NGOs in Germany, illustrated the human cost of these dramatic cuts amid growing global conflict. "More than 100 million people are displaced," Herbst said. "At the same time, more and more donor countries are pulling back." That's why, he said, Germany needs to ensure stable funding for development cooperation and humanitarian aid. But the opposite is occurring.

Germany's cuts come at a time when US President Donald Trump, early in his second term, has also initiated deep reductions in development aid, reportedly

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