SECURITY HAS MANY FACETS
NATIONAL SECURITY AND STABILITY DEPEND NOT ONLY ON WHETHER PEOPLE LIVE IN PEACE AND ADDRESS CONFLICTS USING NON-VIOLENT MEANS. SECURITY AND STABILITY IS ALSO THREATENED IF A COUNTRY IS UNABLE TO PRESERVE AND EQUITABLY DISTRIBUTE ITS NATURAL RESOURCES, OR IF IT CANNOT PROTECT THE POPULATION AGAINST ORGANISED CRIME, CORRUPTION, EPIDEMICS AND BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS.
FIGHTING PIRACY IN WEST AFRICA – COORDINATED, CROSS-BORDER MEASURES
Piracy, human trafficking, the drugs trade, illegal fishing – maritime security in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea is not in the best of shape. To effectively tackle the violence and crime that prevail off their coasts, states bordering on the Gulf of Guinea need to take coordinated counter-measures and establish cross-border information-sharing systems.
On behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Defence, GIZ is helping the Economic Com- munity of West African States (ECOWAS) to set up multinational maritime coordination centres. It is training staff drawn from civilian authorities, the police and the military, and fostering cooperation with national ministries, port authorities, fisheries authorities and environmental agencies. Legally binding framework agreements are also being drawn up in collaboration with the countries involved and the ECOWAS Commission in order to establish a maritime security architecture.
PROTECTION AGAINST BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS – RAISING AWARENESS, ENSURING PREPAREDNESS
Bacteria and viruses as weapons? Given the worsening security situation and the continued terrorist threat, the world must be prepared to face this risk. Firstly, this will involve creating an awareness of the threat of bioterrorist attacks. Secondly, national authorities and institutions must be better prepared to diagnose dangerous pathogens swiftly and correctly, while protecting their laboratories against unauthorised access and developing international networks.
This is a field in which GIZ is providing support through the German Biosecurity Programme, which involves the Robert Koch Institute as well as partner countries in Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. In Sudan, for instance, GIZ is helping state authorities develop biosecurity guidelines. It has also promoted the development of a nationwide laboratory network. The programme was launched in 2013 by the German Federal Foreign Office as part of the German Government’s preventive security policy, and it was extended for a further three years in 2016.
DETECTING AND CONTROLLING EPIDEMICS SWIFTLY
How can we prevent infectious diseases spreading like wildfire? One response is the Epidemic Preparedness Team set up by BMZ in 2015. The team (known by its German acronym SEEG) helps partner countries become better prepared to cope with outbreaks of infectious diseases, and to respond appropriately before the outbreak becomes an epidemic.
In this project, GIZ is cooperating with the Robert Koch Institute and the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine. All three bodies second experts as required for missions. In Togo, for instance, the SEEG put in place a system to diagnose Lassa fever in 2016. In response to an initiative of the partner, the National Hygiene Institute, 120 experts were trained nationwide to take samples correctly and send them to the laboratory. Since then Togo has been significantly better prepared to prevent a Lassa fever epidemic.
FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN GEORGIA – TRANSPARENCY IS THE ANTIDOTE
There is an antidote to corruption that is effective worldwide: transparency. That is why Georgia is putting its faith in European standards to tackle the problem of bribery. Since 2010, GIZ has been working on BMZ’s behalf to help Georgia reform its public procurement system.
Experts are identifying the areas in which the risk of corruption is highest so that specific counter-measures can be developed – such as replacing paper-based systems with a public access online system that applies clear criteria. Georgia’s procurement agency is being supported by an integrated expert placed by the Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM). The expert – an economist – developed the new procedures in line with the pertinent EU directives, and put them into practice with the procurement agency staff.
The result: the new procedures leave less room for corruption and price fixing. Competition has been encouraged and prices cut. The number of bids received for each public invitation to tender has risen by about 10 per cent compared with figures under the previous procedure.
WATER AS A CONFLICT RISK – CONSERVING RESOURCES AND ENSURING EQUITABLE WATER MANAGEMENT
There is no life without water. Where water is scarce, conflicts are more frequent. How a country protects its water resources is thus a crucial factor in the level of security and stability it enjoys. However, all water users must accept responsibility in order to protect precious water resources. And that is precisely the approach adopted by the International Water Stewardship Programme.
Funded by BMZ and the UK Department for International Development, GIZ is implementing programme measures in nine countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia. What makes this programme special is that private households, civil society and companies are working with the public sector to identify ways of protecting water resources and distributing water equitably. This is important if companies that depend on water are to continue production and secure jobs. It also ensures that water need not be rationed and that no conflicts break out over the distribution of water resources.
In Uganda, 500 hectares of wetlands have been rehabilitated, ensuring that water remains available to all, even during the dry season. 40 local leaders and more than 280 farmers were then trained to use the areas sustainably. The project has been partly financed by the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation as part of a public-private cooperation arrangement.
ALLIANCE FOR INTEGRITY
To achieve greater transparency and integrity in international value chains, BMZ launched the Alliance for Integrity in conjunction with the German private sector. With its business-to-business training programme, the Alliance for Integrity is strengthening the capacities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to prevent corruption.
Experienced compliance officers from local or international companies train staff from companies of different sizes who have little or no previous knowledge in the field of anti-corruption. Between late 2015 and early 2017, a total of 147 instructors trained 683 staff. GIZ is implementing the Alliance for Integrity, which operates globally in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The global network has the support of:
- Private companies including MAN SE, Merck KGaA, Metro AG and SAP SE, Allianz SE and the Linde Group
- The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and the Federation of German Industries (BDI)
- Organisations including Transparency International Deutschland e.V. and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).