Development service

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This article only presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

The programs and projects in which development services are provided by skilled workers ( development workers ) are designed by partner organizations and providers of development services. They include all areas of action that are significant in terms of development policy. The framework conditions for development service in Germany are regulated by the Development Workers Act (EHfG) of 1969. The provisions include the granting of maintenance benefits and social security for skilled workers and their families. This also defines the criteria according to which the development service providers are recognized as such; because only these can conclude development worker service contracts.

Carrier of the development service

In Germany, seven organizations are currently recognized as providers of development services and form the umbrella association Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Entwicklungsdienste e. V .:

These organizations shape the deployment options for specialists in the development service or civil peace service . The sponsors follow different procedures: Often the creation of a new place of work is preceded by a request from a local organization and the goal and task description is the result of negotiation processes based on partnership. But there are also organizations that develop their own projects and programs and deploy specialists there. Ultimately, positions for development workers are also created in third-party projects, i. In other words, they are embedded in a cooperation with a recognized institution. It is common to all employment options that the work of the specialists is based on the needs of the respective partner country.

Specialists in development service

Development workers are experienced professionals who, on the basis of a development worker service contract, apply their experience and knowledge for a limited period where joint action is required to overcome poverty, advance political reforms or promote peace. What is special about the development aid contract is that the work is defined as a solidarity service and, according to the law, takes place without any gainful intent. Since 1999, civil peace service professionals have been placed on the same legal basis.

Much has changed since the first skilled workers moved to Tanzania in 1964 , not least the understanding of what “development” means and what development service can actually do. Nowadays the focus is on:

  • Expertise and partner orientation for the joint development and implementation of problem-solving strategies and the joint design and promotion of changes.
  • Appreciation of “productive foreignness” - as a resource for joint learning and intercultural exchange on an equal footing.
  • Peace and social justice are the guiding principles of every development service.

As before, several hundred committed experts in the development service and civil peace service leave the country every year and work in all sectors of German development cooperation .

Anyone wishing to do development work should have completed training and have professional experience. We are looking for specialists from very different areas, and which expertise is needed in each case is specified in the job advertisements of the development service provider.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ EhfG - Development Aid Act. Retrieved April 23, 2019 .
  2. ↑ AGdD brochure (PDF; 2.24 MB)
  3. ↑ Development service in numbers. February 19, 2019, accessed April 23, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development BMZ: Development worker and development worker . Retrieved April 23, 2019 .