Mối quan hệ song phương giữa Đức và Việt Nam có một giá trị đặc biệt. Hiện nay ở Đức có khoảng 125.000 người Việt Nam và người Đức gốc Việt sinh sống, ở Việt Nam có khoảng 100.000 người biết nói tiếng Đức.

Chuyến thăm Việt Nam của Thủ tướng Đức và Bộ trưởng Bộ Ngoại giao Liên bang năm 2011, Bộ trưởng Bộ Kinh tế Liên bang năm 2012 cũng như chuyến thăm Đức của Bộ trưởng Bộ Ngoại giao Việt Nam Phạm Bình Minh năm 2012 đã tiếp thêm động lực cho mối quan hệ giữa hai nước. Tháng 10 năm 2011, Bà Thủ tướng TS. Angela Merkel và Thủ tướng Nguyễn Tấn Dũng đã ký kết bản "Tuyên bố chung Hà Nội" chính thức thiết lập mối quan hệ đối tác chiến lược giữa Đức và Việt Nam.

Tuyên bố chung Hà Nội

Đức không chỉ giúp đỡ Việt Nam trong quá trình chuyển đổi kinh tế mà còn hỗ trợ Việt Nam trong quá trình cải cách hệ thống pháp luật trong khuôn khổ Đối thoại nhà nước pháp quyền Đức-Việt. Với khoảng 70 hội thảo, các cuộc trao đổi về chuyên môn và các chuyến đi khảo sát mỗi năm, Đối thoại nhà nước pháp quyền Đức-Việt đề cập đến rất nhiều nội dung: tư vấn đối với các dự án luật của Việt Nam, tiếp tục phát triển hệ thống pháp luật, bồi dưỡng thẩm phán, công tố viên, luật sư và công chứng viên, tư vấn thực hiện các công ước và quy tắc quốc tế, cải cách pháp luật dân sự (bao gồm pháp luật sở hữu, bảo vệ sở hữu trí tuệ) và pháp luật tố tụng dân sự, pháp luật lao động, công đoàn và xã hội, tiếp tục phát triển pháp luật hình sự và tố tụng hình sự, pháp luật thương mại, cơ chế xét xử của tòa án hiến pháp, khuyến khích các quyền con người, tương trợ tư pháp và các chủ đề khác.

Một dự án quan trọng khác là kế hoạch xây dựng "Ngôi nhà Đức" tại Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh.

Trong “Năm Đức-Việt” 2015, nhân kỷ niệm 35 năm ngày thiết lập quan hệ ngoại giao, hai nước đã tổ chức nhiều hoạt động chào mừng.

Dưới đây là danh sách văn phòng đại diện của các Viện chính trị Đức tại Việt Nam: 

Viện Friedrich Ebert

Trưởng đại diện: Ông Erwin Schweisshelm

7 Bà Huyện Thanh Quan, Ba Đình, Hà Nội

ĐT: +84 24 3845 5108

Fax: +84 24 3845 2631

Email: mail@fes-vietnam.org

Website: http://www.fes-vietnam.org/

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Viện Friedrich Naumann

Trưởng đại diện: Ông Mark Stanitzki

Tầng 4, 28 Tô Ngọc Vân, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội

ĐT: +84 24 3719 2400

Fax: +84 24 3719 2402

Email: mark.stanitzki@fnst.org

Website: http://vietnam.fnst.org/

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Viện Hanns Seidel

Trưởng đại diện: Ông Axel Neubert

Opera Business Center, Tầng 7, 60 Lý Thái Tổ, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội

ĐT: +84 24 3938 8677

Fax: +84 24 3938 8676

Email: Neubert@hss.de

Website: https://southeastasia.hss.de/

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Viện Konrad Adenauer

Trưởng đại diện: Ông Peter Girke

104 Xuân Diệu, Hà Nội

ĐT: +84 24 3718 6194 / 95 / 96

Fax: +84 24 3718 6197

Email: Peter.Girke@kas.de

Website: http://www.kas.de/Vietnam/

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Viện Rosa Luxemburg

Trưởng đại diện: Bà Liliane Danso-Dahmen

72 Xuân Diệu, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội

ĐT: +84 24 3718 5835

Fax: +84 24 3718 5834

Email: hanoi@rosalux.vn

Website: http://rls-sea.de/viet/office-and-people/

This is the sixth time that the country has assumed special responsibility for international peace and security in this capacity. At a time when the multilateral order, with the UN at its heart, is coming under tremendous pressure, Germany wants to be a credible actor working to strengthen the international order, to assume even more visibly responsibility in the multilateral system, to help resolve ongoing crises and to help strengthen conflict prevention. To this end, it will focus on the women, peace and security agenda, disarmament and non-proliferation, human rights, climate and security, international humanitarian law and humanitarian space.

With its five permanent members and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms, the UN Security Council is the only body whose decisions are binding under international law. Membership of the Security Council extends Germany’s foreign policy outreach. As a member of the Security Council, Germany must continually take a position on key issues relating to peace and international security. This includes the mandates for peace missions and the imposition of sanctions. In addition to Germany, the non-permanent members of the Security Council for the 2019-20 term are Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia and South Africa. On 7 June 2019, Tunisia, Viet Nam, the Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Estonia were elected to the Security Council for the 2020-21 period.

Germany’s priorities in the Security Council

The Security Council is the most important organ of the United Nations for guaranteeing peace and security worldwide. In working and cooperating constructively on the extension of mandates and on managing crises, Germany’s membership focuses on conflict resolution. Moreover, Germany is working to ensure that the Security Council is even more active in conflict prevention than was the case in the past, in keeping with a comprehensive concept of security.

Germany is also working to anchor selected issues on the agenda of the Security Council that go beyond the current crises. This includes, for example, links between climate change and security policy, or the impact of pandemics on global security. Climate change is becoming a security issue for more and more countries, for example small island states that are exposed to rising sea levels endangering their very existence.

Germany is also committed to the Women, peace and security agenda, which aims not only to help women play a stronger role in preventing and managing conflicts, but also to better protect them against sexual violence in conflicts. It is in this context that Germany has assumed the co-chairmanship, together with the Dominican Republic, of the Informal Expert Group on Women, Peace and Security in 2020. The adoption of Resolution 2467 on 23 April 2019, under the German Presidency, was a major success on the way to intensifying the fight against sexual violence in conflicts and pursuing criminal proceedings.

Furthermore, Germany is committed to strengthening the humanitarian system. The focus here is on improving the application of international humanitarian law, protecting humanitarian aid workers, ensuring humanitarian access in conflict regions, and improving the protection of civilian populations in armed conflicts. In September 2019, together with its partners in the Alliance for Multilateralism, Germany launched the initiative for a Humanitarian Call for Action to promote and ensure respect for international humanitarian law. In this context, Germany and the Alliance against Impunity are seeking accountability for the most serious crimes. As Syria humanitarian co-penholder in the Security Council, we are committed to ensuring humanitarian access to those in need. In addition, Germany, as one of the world’s major actors in the humanitarian field, provides wide-ranging support for the civilian population in crisis-torn regions, thereby underlining its engagement for adherence to standards under international law and to humanitarian principles.

Germany is also injecting fresh impetus on disarmament and arms control, including with two debates on nuclear arms control (NPT link) and plans for resolutions on small arms, and is committed to a strong international arms control regime, one that is not just limited to nuclear, but also includes autonomous arms Systems, for example.

Finally, the joint consideration of human rights and security remains another key priority for Germany in the Security Council. Germany is working to ensure that massive human rights violations, which are often both a symptom and a cause of conflicts, are also discussed in the Security Council. For example, as well as addressing issues on its own, Germany has invited the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, as a briefer, and has organised an informal meeting (Arria-formula meeting) on human rights components in peace missions.

The timeframe for Germany’s membership of the Security Council

Germany has attended all meetings of the Security Council as an observer since 1 October 2018, becoming a full member on 1 January 2019. In April 2019, for the first time during this current membership, Germany assumed the Presidency of the Security Council, taking over from France. For the first time in the Security Council’s history, the two Presidencies followed coordinated programmes and were known as the “twin Presidencies”. This year again, Germany’s Presidency of the Security Council in July 2020 continues on from a “European spring” launched by Estonia in May and continued in June by France.

The unity of the EU is very important to Germany, not least in the United Nations in New York. Because if we Europeans take a common stance, our voice will have far greater weight. The aim is to act together. So Germany coordinates closely with its EU partners on the Security Council, too. There are currently four EU member states on the Security Council.

Germany’s work in the United Nations

Germany is already heavily involved in the United Nations politically, financially and in terms of personnel in addition to its humanitarian commitment as the fourth-largest contributor to the regular and peacekeeping budgets and as the second-largest donor of official development assistance. In addition, it has become one of the largest Western troop-contributing nations to UN peacekeeping missions and participates actively in missions such as the peace missions in Mali and Lebanon.

Tham nhũng được định nghĩa là lợi dụng quyền hạn được giao nhằm tư lợi. Trong đó bao gồm đưa hối lộ, nhận hối lộ, đưa lợi ích, nhận lợi ích, tham ô, lừa đảo là những tội danh ở Đức. Tham nhũng có thể xảy ra ví dụ như ở cơ quan hành chính, cơ quan tư pháp, trong kinh tế, trong chính quyền hoặc trong các tổ chức phi kinh tế. Theo đánh giá của Tổ chức Tiền tệ quốc tế thì mỗi năm tham nhũng gây thiệt hại từ 1.500 đến 2.000 tỷ USD trên toàn thế giới. Điều đó làm giảm tăng trưởng kinh tế toàn cầu. Nhưng nước Đức chống tham nhũng như thế nào? Có thể chống tham nhũng một cách hiệu quả như thế nào? Nước Đức làm gì để giúp đỡ những nước khác thoát khỏi nạn tham nhũng?

Chỉ số tham nhũng

Tham nhũng là một vấn nạn toàn cầu. Khi xảy ra chỉ một ưu ái nhỏ thôi là đã có thể nói đến tham nhũng rồi. Một cảnh sát nhét ít tiền vào túi, một thẩm phán nhận hối lộ của bị cáo và tuyên một bản án nhẹ hơn hoặc một chính khách đưa họ hàng và người thân vào những vị trí thuận lợi. Từ năm 1995 Tổ chức phi chính phủ Transparency International (Minh bạch quốc tế) đánh giá hàng năm mức độ tham những của quan chức và chính khách tại 180 nước dựa trên chỉ số tham những. Chỉ số này cho thấy mức độ tham nhũng nhận biết được trong cơ quan công quyền của một nhà nước. Theo chỉ số này thì Đức cùng với Anh và Luxemburg được xếp thứ 10. Như vậy ba nước này thuộc Top 10 và có chỉ số tham nhũng thấp.

Phòng ngừa tham nhũng trong cơ quan công quyền

Chống tham nhũng trong cơ quan công quyền là rất quan trọng. Lòng tin vào cơ quan công quyền bị suy giảm đáng kể vì tham nhũng và qua đó bộ máy hành chính mất đi tính hợp pháp của mình. Ở đây cách ứng xử của mỗi nhân viên là yếu tố quyết định. Nhân viên trong cơ quan hành chính công chịu sự điều chỉnh của luật pháp và pháp luật Đức. Hành động của họ phải công bằng, minh bạch và không tư lợi. Vì thế ở Đức những hành động tham nhũng bị phòng chống bằng các công tác kiểm tra, phát hiện và xử phạt. Thông qua quá trình nhận thức được tham nhũng, các hội thảo, các khóa bồi dưỡng và các khóa học tương tác, nhân viên hành chính công được thông báo về các nguy cơ và tình huống có thể xảy ra tham nhũng. Ngoài ra họ còn nhận được một bộ quy tắc ứng xử giải thích các nguyên tắc của ứng xử minh bạch. Cán bộ lãnh đạo nhận được một bản chỉ dẫn phải thực hiện những biện pháp nào để giảm thiểu nguy cơ tham nhũng.

Cán bộ chuyên trách chống tham nhũng

Một biện pháp nữa nhằm chống tham nhũng ở Đức là cử ra cán bộ chuyên trách chống tham nhũng. Đó là những cán bộ để nhân viên cơ quan hành chính công liên hệ và ở một số bang cũng để người dân liên hệ. Khi một ai đó biết một vụ việc tham nhũng, người đó có thể dấu tên báo cho cán bộ chống tham nhũng. Cán bộ này có nghĩa vụ giữ kín và xử lý tin báo một cách cẩn mật. Khi có nghi ngờ tham nhũng, cán bộ chống tham nhũng chuyển tiếp tin báo đến cơ quan cảnh sát hoặc cơ quan công tố. Cán bộ chống tham nhũng còn có nhiệm vụ tư vấn và giải đáp cho nhân viên trong cơ quan, ví dụ như bằng cách tổ chức các cuộc họp hướng dẫn, thông báo.

„Compliance“ trong công ty

Ngoài ra việc các công ty kinh tế và nhân viên của các công ty đó tuân theo luật pháp và pháp luật là rất quan trọng. Trong tiếng Đức „Compliance“ có nghĩa là tuân thủ quy định. Ban lãnh đạo công ty có nghĩa vụ đưa ra các quy định và tiến hành các biện pháp để bảo đảm tuân thủ quy định. Khi một nhân viên có hành động tham nhũng, có thể toàn bộ công ty sẽ bị xét xử. Để ngăn chặn điều đó có thể thực hiện các quy tắc ứng xử, tổ chức bồi dưỡng cho nhân viên, thực hiện các biện pháp truyền thông hoặc ví dụ như cử ra một „Compliance-Officer“ – cán bộ chuyên trách về tuân thủ quy định.

Sự trợ giúp của Đức trong cuộc chiến chống tham nhũng ở nước ngoài

Tham nhũng tạo ra một rào cản trong cuộc chiến xóa đói, giảm nghèo. Các nước có tệ tham nhũng nặng nề làm cho các nhà đầu tư xa lánh, gây ra mất an toàn pháp lý, tiêu tốn tài nguyên và không nhận thức được các tiềm năng phát triển. Điều đó làm gia tăng đói nghèo. Chính vì thế Bộ Hợp tác kinh tế và Phát triển Liên bang tìm cách xây dựng những giải pháp phòng chống tham nhũng. Có những chương trình được thực hiện nhằm hỗ trợ sự điều hành đúng đắn của chính phủ và hỗ trợ cuộc chiến chống tham nhũng. Bộ Hợp tác kinh tế và Phát triển Lien bang tìm cách kết nối các cơ quan nhà nước, giới kinh tế tư nhân và xã hội dân sự vào công tác đó. Bộ Hợp tác kinh tế và Phát triển Liên bang giúp đỡ các cơ quan công quyền tại các nước đó kiến tạo một cách minh bạch hơn, hỗ trợ xã hội dân sự và hỗ trợ cải cách nền tài chính công.

Các tổ chức quốc tế

Có một số tổ chức quốc tế tích cực hoạt động chống tham nhũng, như tổ chức Transparency International (Minh bạch quốc tế). Đây là một tổ chức phi chính phủ tích cực hoạt động trong cuộc chiến chống tham nhũng. Transparency International là một tổ chức độc lập phi đảng phái và vì lợi ích chung. Tổ chức này được thành lập tại Đức năm 1993, cho đến nay đã có 1.200 thành viên và hoạt động tại hơn 100 nước. Transparency International hỗ trợ công tác phòng ngừa tham nhũng, tìm cách phát hiện những điểm yếu trong các nước bị tham nhũng, đưa ra những phương pháp hành động mới và xây dựng những công cụ chống tham nhũng.

I. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF AN INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

Germany is facing major challenges around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has brought home to us how interconnected and interdependent we are in the globalised world. The pandemic’s impact on health and the resulting humanitarian and socio-economic consequences now affect all areas of life.

International cooperation and coordination are the key to an effective global response to COVID-19 as well as to the economic upheaval that is already becoming evident. Germany intends to live up to its international responsibility by adopting a comprehensive and coherent approach.

We have to assume that the number of COVID-19 cases around the world will continue to rise. Alongside the worst affected countries in Europe or the United States, COVID-19 has grave consequences for countries with weak healthcare systems and often weak state structures, a high population density, extreme poverty and citizens with underlying health issues, a lack of access to safe drinking water as well as hunger and malnutrition. States in conflict regions and people already affected by humanitarian crises, for example internally displaced persons or refugees, are especially vulnerable. Particularly high infection rates and serious consequences for the population and the functioning of the healthcare systems are to be expected in these countries. Even those emerging economies and developing countries hardly affected by the pandemic are likely to experience a crisis due to their dependency on the export of raw materials, remittances from abroad, tourism and their integration in international production and supply chains. We have to be prepared for increased political, economic and social instability which could also have considerable repercussions for Germany and the EU.

Both within the EU and by international comparison, Germany is considered to be one of the countries which, thanks to its good healthcare system, was well-prepared for the pandemic and reacted quickly. The German Government thus believes that it has an obligation to work around the world to strengthen healthcare systems and pandemic resilience.

That is why Germany is active alongside the European Commission and other partners in the multilateral ACT Platform (Access to COVID-19 Tools) in particular. In implementation of a G20 pledge, it has set itself the goal of working towards the development and fair distribution across the globe of COVID-19 vaccines as well as drugs and diagnostics for the virus. The Platform is a key instrument for containing the pandemic around the world.

Only if the pandemic is brought under control all over the world and on a durable basis, and if the efforts to overcome its secondary effects are coordinated at multilateral level, can it be defeated for good. Germany intends to play its part in reaching this goal.

II. FRAMEWORK FOR POLITICAL ACTION – MULTILATERAL, EUROPEAN, BILATERAL

The German Government’s international efforts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic will take place at three coordinated levels:

• Multilateral: The German Government will use its membership of the UN Security Council as well as that of other UN organs and the G7/G20 for an approach which places the United Nations and other multilateral organisations, especially the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, at the centre of the efforts to resolve the current crisis. The German Government intends to continue fully supporting the WHO, which is at the heart of the direct efforts to tackle the pandemic. It is working to greatly strengthen the WHO’s structures and its response capabilities – politically, institutionally as well as financially. The German Government will actively help to shape a lessons learned process in international pandemic preparedness.

At the same time, it will place particular importance on prevention. Our goal is to bolster the resilience of states and organisations to future pandemics on a durable basis. We want to highlight the links between global health and global security as well as stability, also in the case of UN peacekeeping measures.

Humanitarian crises will be aggravated by the socio-economic impact of the pandemic. The German Government is therefore engaged both politically and financially in the COVID-19 response coordinated by the UN, including the WHO’s Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. It is focusing both on the immediate response to the pandemic and humanitarian assistance as well as on the endeavours to overcome longer-term socio-economic effects. It is working to ensure that aid workers continue to have access and that the supply chains for relief goods are maintained even in the conditions resulting from the pandemic.

• European: The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for more intensive EU-wide cooperation and a more prominent role for the EU in the sphere of global health, enhanced EU coordination as well as stronger EU crisis response capabilities, both internally and externally. This requires enhanced situation assessment and forecasting capabilities. In collaboration with the other current members of the Trio Presidency, the German Government intends to make overcoming the pandemic and kick-starting economic recovery one of the main focuses of Germany’s EU Council Presidency. Within this context, one of our aims will be to pursue the Franco-German initiative for an EU health strategy with a view to fostering strategic sovereignty in the healthcare sector. Among other things, we will call for the coordination of European procurement policies for future vaccines and treatments.

In the field of external trade, our main goal will be to support our partners in Africa, in particular vulnerable states in the Middle East, as well as in the Western Balkans and the countries of the Eastern Partnership as they tackle the challenges presented by COVID-19. To this end, the Team Europe approach, i.e. comprehensive and joint efforts on the part of all EU institutions and member states, must be further developed and implemented in a coherent and effective manner.

• Bilateral: The German Government is carrying out national programmes which enhance those of the European Union and of the United Nations as well as those of other international organisations. The main focuses of our national programmes are Africa, particularly vulnerable states in the Middle East, the Western Balkans and the countries of the Eastern Partnership.

In the efforts to tackle the pandemic, the German Government is also counting on NATO, which has proved to be a key complementary player in providing support.

III. THEMATIC CLUSTERS AND INSTRUMENTS

The German Government’s international efforts take the form of a networked approach. We will initially focus on the three priority areas which are at the heart of the international response to COVID-19 and make a major contribution towards ending the pandemic and dealing with its consequences:

1. Health, including research, development and innovation

Support in providing protective equipment, medical supplies, diagnostics, infection control and technical expertise:

Taking into account German and European needs, the German Government will comply with requests from other states for assistance in the medical sphere, such as for protective clothing, medical equipment, testing or advisory services. In doing so, it will mainly rely on the instruments of the WHO, the EU, the World Bank and the UN.

Strengthening research, development and production regarding vaccines, drugs and diagnostics; global distribution and health governance:

Only globally coordinated research efforts and a distribution of vaccines and drugs which is global, fair and based on epidemiological and other relevant criteria can make a significant contribution towards ending the pandemic. In particular, the German Government will support the ACT Platform and the key players WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI), the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM).

Expanding global health crisis management

The German Government intends to call for the WHO’s leading and coordinating role in the global health architecture to be strengthened both financially and politically: through increased financial autonomy and the development of robust and durable crisis response capabilities.

Targeted technical cooperation to strengthen healthcare systems:

The German Government will support states with especially weak healthcare and food systems through bilateral and multilateral development cooperation instruments as well as the G7 biosecurity programme.

2. Crisis instruments, humanitarian assistance, stabilisation, as well as transitional development assistance

Humanitarian assistance, transitional development assistance:

As the second largest donor of humanitarian assistance, the German Government intends to make its contribution towards meeting the additional humanitarian need. In doing so, it will be guided by the UN’s COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP). At the same time, it will use transitional development assistance to respond to the broad spectrum of consequences of the pandemic in the crisis regions, particularly in the Middle East and in sub-Saharan Africa. Assistance will be provided for African armed forces in implementing isolation and quarantine measures in conformity with human right standards in the form of advisory services and equipment.

Stabilisation of states which have been severely affected by COVID-19:

Within the EU and the UN, the German Government will step up its efforts in the fields of stabilisation and security policy. Above all, the resilience of states in the Sahel of particular relevance to international security should be strengthened.

3. Economy, including multilateral financial aid and debt relief measures; foreign trade and investment promotion and trade policy

The German Government supports multilateral initiatives at G7 and G20 level as well as those of the World Bank, regional development banks and the IMF.

Easing of the financial burden on the poorest states:

The German Government supports and is participating in the debt moratorium for the poorest states within the G7/G20 framework and in the Paris Club. Germany is advocating that all G20 states take part and that private-sector creditors be included. Furthermore, Germany is contributing to the emergency instruments of the IMF and the World Bank Group.

Sustainable support for sections of society and economies hit particularly hard by COVID-19

In an internationally coordinated approach, the German Government will use development cooperation funds to assist sections of society hit particularly hard by COVID-19 and to provide targeted assistance to the private sector, especially in the reform partner countries of German development cooperation. In this, the German Government will be guided by the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.

Foreign trade and investment promotion and trade policy

The German Government will help German business to continue and set up projects and investments in the countries affected, as well as to take advantage of new opportunities in third markets.

In terms of trade policy, it will continue to urge the reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In particular, it will call for initiatives to make it easier for developing countries to integrate into global trade.

As a complement to this, the German Government will work to ensure that the EU further expands its ambitious bilateral trade

agenda. Our goal is to lessen dependency on individual supplier countries through diversification, to maintain (agricultural) supply chains and, at the same time, to foster the integration of partner countries into world trade.

Support and expansion of strong and resource-friendly agricultural and food industries

The German Government intends to continue its support measures aimed at enhancing food security in the regions of the world worst hit in order to prevent the pandemic resulting in a hunger and food crisis.

IV. REGIONAL FOCUS – AFRICA, WESTERN BALKANS, EASTERN PARTNERSHIP, ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE STATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

On epidemiological as well as strategic grounds, support for the countries of the Western Balkans and in the Eastern Partnership will have priority within the EU, especially in the short term.

Africa is one of the regions around the world which are least well-prepared for the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Due to weak healthcare systems, in many respects vulnerable populations and a lack of social security systems, there is a danger that development and humanitarian crises with consequences for security will result from the health crisis.

Germany intends to pool its resources wherever they will make a significant difference which is also in Germany’s interest. This applies to African countries and to especially vulnerable states in the Middle East. Owing to the regional and transregional armed conflicts, fragile peace processes, terrorism and irregular migration, their destabilisation would also have serious consequences for Germany and the EU. Another focus of Germany’s support will be the countries of the Compact with Africa and of the African Union, which plays a key role when it comes to crisis prevention and stabilisation.

An effective international response by Germany to COVID-19

ANNEX

I. THEMATIC CLUSTERS AND INSTRUMENTS

(1) Health, including research, development and innovation

Support in providing protective equipment, diagnostics,

infection control and technical expertise:

Taking into account German and European needs, the German Government will grant bilateral requests for protective equipment. In addition to requests where something concrete is being offered in return, it will give priority to requests for assistance from partners with which Germany has special ties. Alongside our EU partners, these include especially vulnerable states. The sooner the assistance is provided, the greater its value will be in terms of health promotion and foreign policy. The German Government will rely above all on instruments of the WHO, the EU, the United Nations and other multilateral organisations as well as other partners such as the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and the Global Fund (GFATM) within the framework of the ACT Accelerator. It will make use of bilateral instruments and programmes such as the Global Health Protection Programme (GHPP) or the German Epidemic Preparedness Team (SEEG). Furthermore, it will advocate that the European Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) for communicable diseases be expanded to include other countries – e.g. those of the Eastern Partnership – and support the secondment of EU experts to partner countries.

Strengthening research, development and production in relation to vaccines, drugs and diagnostics; global distribution and health governance:

The promotion of the research, development, production and worldwide distribution of vaccines, therapies and diagnostics in connection with COVID-19 are key prerequisites for overcoming the crisis. There are a wide range of national, European and international focuses for research cooperation. In addition to swift development, an adequate level of production as well as fair international access for all states to the products developed must be ensured. The main focus is on the ACT Platform with its key players the WHO, CEPI, Gavi and GFATM. Only globally coordinated research efforts and a distribution of vaccines and drugs which is global, fair and based on epidemiological and other relevant criteria can make a significant contribution towards ending the pandemic. At the same time, research into preventing zoonotic diseases, also to avert further pandemics, must be strengthened (one health approach).

Expansion of global health crisis management:

The German Government is also calling for the significant strengthening of global health crisis management. It is vital here to strengthen, both financially and politically, the leading and coordinating role of the WHO in the global health architecture, in particular by ensuring greater financial autonomy, the development of robust and sustainable crisis response capabilities, including a fully financed WHO emergency fund, as well as support for other players such as Gavi, the GFATM, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Targeted technical cooperation to strengthen healthcare systems:

Wherever possible, the German Government will help states with especially weak health and food systems strengthen them, for example in the development of laboratory capacities and illness registration systems or in the agricultural sphere. Bilateral and multilateral instruments in development cooperation as well as the G7 biosecurity programme will be used to this end.

(2) Crisis instruments, humanitarian assistance, stabilisation, as well as transitional development assistance

Humanitarian assistance, transitional development assistance:

As the second largest donor of humanitarian assistance and in light of the increasing additional humanitarian need, the German Government intends to work actively to save human lives and to alleviate human suffering. In doing so, it will be guided by the UN’s COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP) and support UN organisations and humanitarian NGOs as well as the organisations of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements. It will also strengthen the relevant coordination mechanisms, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the NATO Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).

The German Government will support African armed forces by providing advice on the implementation of government isolation and quarantine measures in conformity with human rights standards, equipment (medical equipment) and training (work in medical laboratories).

Stabilisation of states which have been severely affected by COVID-19:

In crisis areas such as the Sahel, it can be assumed that the impact of the pandemic will further weaken the remaining minimum level of political stability (in terms of security). The German Government will step up its stabilisation and security engagement, both bilaterally and within the EU and UN. The main goal will be to strengthen the resilience of states of particular importance to international security.

(3) Economy, including multilateral financial aid and debt relief measures; foreign trade and investment Promotion and trade policy

The German Government supports multilateral initiatives at G7 and G20 level as well as those of the World Bank, regional development banks and the IMF.

Easing of the financial burden on the poorest states:

Germany supports and participates in the debt moratorium for the poorest states within the G7/G20 framework and in the Paris Club. In the Paris Club and in the G20, the German Government will advocate that all G20 take part and that private-sector creditors also be included. Furthermore, Germany is already contributing to the IMF Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) and supports the IMF emergency measures and those of the World Bank Group, such as the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF). The German Government is also examining whether to contribute once more to the Poverty Reduction Growth Trust (PRGT) managed by the IMF, from which concessional (emergency) loans are financed.

Sustainable support for sections of society and economies hit particularly hard by COVID-19

The German Government intends to use development cooperation funds in an internationally coordinated approach to help sections of society hit especially hard by COVID-19 and to provide targeted assistance to the private sector, especially in Germany’s reform partner countries. Furthermore, in international organisations it is calling for the huge efforts which will be needed to support economies as a result of the pandemic and to foster the recovery of economies and societies to be undertaken in the spirit of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.

Foreign trade and investment promotion and trade policy

Using tried and tested instruments of foreign trade and investment promotion, the German Government will help German business to continue and set up projects and investments in the affected countries, especially those of the Compact with Africa, as well as to take advantage of new opportunities in third markets. Germany will thus help safeguard jobs at home and abroad, foster economic stability in countries hit hardest, as well as boost the global upswing after the crisis.

In terms of trade policy, the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need to strengthen rules-based trade under the auspices of the WTO, particularly to support weaker members of the international community and to enhance (market) transparency. For the alternative would be the “law of the strong”. The German Government will continue to urge the reform of the WTO. In particular, it will call for initiatives to make it easier for developing countries to integrate into global trade. In addition, health-related initiatives can lend fresh momentum to the WTO, such as an open discussion on the expansion of the WTO Pharma-Agreement or on an essential health goods agreement.

As a complement to this, the German Government will work to ensure that the EU further expands its ambitious bilateral trade agenda in order to reduce its dependency on individual supplier countries through diversification, maintain (agricultural) supply chains and, at the same time, foster the integration of partner countries into world trade. A blanket policy on reshoring and relocation would have a negative global impact and would especially harm developing countries at the other end of the supply chain.

Support and expansion of strong and resource-friendly agricultural and food industries

With regard to the agricultural and food industries, the German Government intends to continue its support measures aimed at enhancing food security in the regions of the world worst affected in order to effectively prevent the pandemic resulting in a hunger and food crisis.

II. REGIONAL FOCUS – AFRICA, WESTERN BALKANS, EASTERN PARTNERSHIP, ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE STATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

On epidemiological as well as strategic grounds, support for the countries of the Western Balkans and in the Eastern Partnership will have priority within the EU, especially in the short term. For if we want to succeed in the fight against COVID-19 in Europe, then we will also need to help combat the virus in our immediate neighbourhood. It is important that we also support efforts to adapt migration management on the ground to the COVID-19 situation. In the Western Balkans and in the countries of the Eastern Partnership, the political investments of more than a decade are at stake.

Africa is among the regions in the world which are least well prepared to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. At the same time, it is not possible to assess the situation reliably due to the lack of structures and processes for data transfer. There is a danger that weak healthcare systems, populations which are vulnerable in many respects and a lack of social security systems will turn the health crisis into a development crisis with clearly discernible consequences for security policy and far-reaching effects on poverty and hunger. Here, too, Europe has a special responsibility. Germany will therefore continue to stand by the people of Africa and carry on its close cooperation with African partners at this difficult time, adapting it to the current challenges, for example within the framework of the existing Compact with Africa initiative. Strengthening African healthcare systems, the fight against humanitarian crises, in particular against hunger and dealing with the social and economic consequences of the crisis will lie at the centre of the German Government’s engagement.

Annex

Germany intends to pool its resources where they can bring about tangible changes which are also in Germany’s interest. Firstly, this applies to African countries and to especially vulnerable states in the Middle East. They are particularly reliant on assistance. Furthermore, their destabilisation in terms of regional and transregional armed conflicts, fragile peace processes, terrorism and irregular migration would also have serious consequences for Germany and the EU. This also applies to the countries of the Compact with Africa. Targeted support must also be given to the African Union, which plays a key role on the continent – especially when it comes to crisis prevention and stabilisation.

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