The Transatlantic Taskforce presented their “Development report” in Berlin, Germany on March 19. ONE Germany’s policy manager, Andreas Hüebers, was there.

The report was presented by a panel consisting of co-chair Jim Kolbe, Michael Hofmann, German executive director at the World Bank as well as Alicia Spoons, a Transatlantic Fellow at the German-Marshall-Fund and contributing author to the report. The panel presented the main findings on the four chapters: development and security/government, climate change, food security, and aid effectiveness.

This was followed by a lively debate that showed that the consensus which the taskforce members had reached among themselves probably also reflects a consensus that the wider development aid community in Germany would subscribe to.

Interestingly many of the participants were from African Embassies, although this was deliberately a purely transatlantic exercise. The idea to broaden it by integrating Chinese and African contributions was discussed. Jim Kolbe said the taskforce will continue to make sure the report has political impact. In this endeavor he wants to be back in Germany next year.

The launch was preceded by a reception for African Ambassadors in Germany and followed by a presentation in the German parliaments development committee.

-Andreas Hüebers