Triangular co-operation in German development co-operation

Challenge

To achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Germany sees a need for the international community to work in new forms of strategic partnership. It views triangular co-operation as a key example of such partnerships, linking South-South and North-South co-operation and fostering mutual understanding and learning. As part of its ambition to step up strategic co-operation with global partners, Germany has increased the role and value of triangular co-operation in its co-operation portfolio.

Approach

For Germany, triangular co-operation means a development project that is jointly planned, financed and implemented by three (or more) partners: a beneficiary, a pivotal partner and a facilitating partner. These three roles may change over the lifetime of a project and Germany views its role as that of a learning partner, too.

Figure 1. Three roles in triangular co-operation

Source: Triangular cooperation in German development cooperation, BMZ

Building on a dedicated position paper for triangular co-operation adopted in 2013 and updated in 2022, Germany combines a broad approach with dedicated financial and institutional resources to:

• Foster both political-strategic and programmatic-thematic partnerships: Based on the trusting relationship built through triangular co-operation, Indonesia and Mexico co-operated with Germany on sensitive political issues, such as establishing and strengthening of their co-operation agencies (Indo-AID and AMEXCID). A long-term collaboration with Brazil to establish a meteorology institute in Mozambique is an example of a thematic partnership.

• Include private sector and civil society: Germany encourages triangular co-operation that goes beyond government actors. Examples of private sector partnerships include work on the sustainability of Chinese engagement in the Ethiopian textile sector, and a virtual business platform in Central America. Working with Arab partners, Germany supported the Tunisian civil society organisation, the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research, to support financial inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa.

• Source dedicated funding: Through a Regional Fund for Triangular Cooperation with partners in Latin America and the Caribbean, Germany has committed EUR 30 million since 2010. The fund regularly launches calls for proposals, providing 40% of co-funding, while the remaining 60% is mobilised by the beneficiary and pivotal partners.

• Invest in monitoring and evaluation: Germany uses the OECD’s toolkit for identifying, monitoring and evaluating the value added of triangular co-operation right from the phase of submitting project proposals through to project evaluation. In 2020 Germany undertook a portfolio evaluation of its triangular co‑operation through its evaluation institute DEVal.

• Exchange internationally: Germany exchanges lessons with partners, working with the United Nations, the OECD and the Global Partnership Initiative (GPI) on Effective Triangular Co-operation.

Results

Germany has become one of the largest partners of triangular co-operation worldwide and regularly captures and communicates the results of its projects, which include:

• Increased resources for development: co-funding requirements help to achieve this, at the same time as strengthening ownership and buy-in from all partners. The fund in Latin America regularly receives more applications than it can fund; by 2022 it had agreed more than 100 projects. In 2021 Germany set up a fund for Asia and agreed to step up triangular activities in the Middle East and North Africa with the Islamic Development Bank in 2022.

• Solutions which are adapted to different contexts and better reflect socio-cultural norms through the role of the pivotal partner. For example, in a joint project by Indonesia and Germany to strengthen women’s economic empowerment in Afghanistan, the cultural proximity between Afghan women’s group and their Indonesian peers contributed to the success of the project.

• Strengthened development co-operation structures. Partnership with Indonesia-AID and the AMEXCID in Mexico led to the creation of the Guidelines for Multi-Stakeholder-Partnerships in Indonesia.

• Cost savings and new business relations for the private sector. For example, triangular co-operation on energy efficiency between El Salvador, Mexico and Germany allowed enterprises in El Salvador to achieve cost savings they themselves estimated at about USD 5 million.

• New ways to respond to crises, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Jordan, a joint triangular co-operation project with the Islamic Development Bank, supports local mask production by transferring technology from Singapore, training staff and certifying products.

• Finding new solutions to complex problems: bringing together partners who usually don’t work with each other can be a powerful way of working that encourages innovation.

• Mutual learning: the horizontal nature of triangular co-operation means that all partners contribute, and all partners learn.