D+C Development and Cooperation (No. 4, July/August 1999, p. 3)

In the 40 years since its foundation, the DSE has built up extensive contacts to partner countries and organisations in many parts of the world; it has given initial and advanced training to staff from developing countries; and it has promoted the exchange of experience between personalities from developing and industrial countries and furthered the development dialogue between governments, multilateral and bilateral development institutions, and the non-governmental organisations.

But with the 40th anniversary coinciding with the start into the new century, DSE does not waste much time on looking back. At a press conference in Bonn on the occasion of the presentation of its annual report 1998, DSE's leadership spoke more on the challenges of the future than on the achievements of the past. The newly elected President of the Board of Trustees, Ms Adelheid Tröscher, stressed the importance of education and training in a world in which knowledge and information had become key factors of change. Tröscher also emphasised the role of DSE in supporting longterm strategies for crisis prevention ­ a subject uppermost on most peoples' minds in Europe because of the Kosovo war. Political dialogue as promoted by the Development Policy Forum of DSE in the case of water management was an example how the DSE contributed towards minimising the structural causes of conflict, Tröscher said. Another example were the support of democratisation processes in Central America through the promotion of decentralisation and stronger participation of the people in political processes.

DSE Director-General, Dr. Heinz Bühler, took a similar line when he pointed out that development cooperation is undergoing fundamental change and, with buzzwords such as international structural policy, peace policy, or crisis prevention, is becoming ever more political. As an institution whose mandate it is to promote education, training and dialogue, the DSE has an essential role to play in combatting poverty, protecting the environment, in democratisation and decentralisation, and in conflict prevention, Bühler said. With its 40 years of experience; its special expertise; its broad network of contacts in industrial and developing countries, in the state and non-state sectors, and in the private economy; and its modern teaching methods, the DSE was a valuable and interesting partner for the developing countries and their institutions, for national and international organisations, and for the German government, Bühler maintained.

Despite this positive outlook, there are considerable uncertainties over the future of development cooperation. Although the new Bonn government last September started off with the promise to reverse the negative trend in Germany's official development assistance, severe economic constraints force the finance minister to slash next year's federal budget by a record 30 billion deutschmarks. Development politicians are still hoping that the axe will not fall on budget of the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). "It does not fit together that the role of development cooperation as international structural policy and peace policy is stressed and at the same time the financial means to fulfill this task are cut", Heinz Bühler argued at the press conference. But by mid-June it was by no means clear whether development aid would be exempted from the proposed cuts which, according to the finance minister, were to equally affect all federal government ministries.

DSE could face a difficult future if its financial basis was further eroded. Last year already, its budget fell by 2.7 per cent against the preceding year. An additional strain is created by the fact that the seat of the institution and several of its departments are moving from Berlin to Bonn next year. 170 of its staff are affected, and great efforts must be undertaken to retain the functioning of the organisation. But DSE sees the move not only as an additional hardship, but also as a chance for a new beginning: Bonn is becoming the rallying point for national and international development institutions which will cooperate in the Center for International Cooperation (CIC). DSE is joined by the German Development Service (DED) and the German Development Institute (DIE) among others which will also move to Bonn and form the nucleus of the CIC. Heinz Bühler has coined the notion of a "Silicon Valley of development cooperation" which could one day come into being in Bonn and which could give a new impetus and new directions to development policy. DSE could play a leading role in this process by bringing a large number of participants to Bonn.

40 years after its foundation, the German Foundation for International Development is thus retaining its vibrancy and flexibility in responding to new situations and challenges. From the beginning, the DSE has believed that investments in human resources are vital to development. 40 years later, in our knowledge and information society, there is every reason to continue with this approach.