On November 14, Simone Wisotzki, member of the Executive Board at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), took part in a roundtable discussion at Misereor's 2025 annual reception in Berlin. Together with Jochen Steinhilber (Head of Department at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff (Otto Wolf Director of the DGAP), and Dr. Andreas Frick (Chief Executive of Misereor), she discussed current challenges in development cooperation.
Wisotzki's contributions focused on the global increase in military and defense expenses and their impact on the achievement of sustainable development goals. She also emphasized the importance of gender-equitable development cooperation and feminist development policy for sustainable global cooperation.
Department head Steinhilber represented Development Minister Reem Alabali-Radovan at the event, who had to cancel her participation at short notice. In an online message, the minister emphasized the close cooperation with civil society and churches.
The discussion made it clear that development cooperation faces new challenges in times of global power shifts. Dr. Andreas Frick, CEO of Misereor, summed this up in an interview on LinkedIn:
“Business is conducted especially by those who start from a position of power. Misereor and many of our partners, but also civil society organizations, want cohesion.”
Managing Director Bernd Bornhorst also emphasized the urgency of international cooperation: “Development cooperation has never been more important than it is today. Even if helping people is not a moral imperative, it is clear that in a globalized world, we can only solve problems by working together.”
Misereor is the international aid organization of the Catholic Church in Germany and has been working worldwide for over 60 years to overcome poverty and injustice.