Through close cooperation with partner countries, it has been possible to adapt assistance measures to the differing economic and social conditions in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. Development cooperation can and must always consist solely of helping others to help themselves. It is our partner countries who bear the primary responsibility for their own development. Inputs from outside are intended to provide impetus and start-up assistance but not replace the efforts of our partners themselves. Thus development cooperation can always only be a contribution to sustainable development in our partner countries. Of increasing importance for economic development in our partner countries is private investment, the volume of which, according to international comparisons, far exceeds the volume of public funding.

Helping to alleviate mass poverty and remove its structural causes remains the foremost objective of German development policy - and its contribution is of vital importance. The world of tomorrow will only be able to live in peace if it proves possible to alleviate hunger and need, reduce the prosperity gap between North and South, protect and preserve the natural sources of life, and ensure respect for human rights. It is now common knowledge that the people in North and South, in East and West, in poor and rich countries, are interdependent. This is clearly illustrated by the alarming extent of environmental destruction and its repercussions on industrial and developing countries. The Federal Government therefore not only pursues a progressive environmental policy at home but also supports developing countries in implementing environmentally friendly development programs.