“Feminist Development Policy”: Half a million euros for gender workshops in China

Gender training in a Chinese province, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). What may initially sound unusual is part of an ongoing project to strengthen local social organizations in western China. Between 2023 and 2027, approximately €522,000 will be allocated from the German development cooperation budget. The project sponsor is the Catholic Central Agency for Development Aid (KZE).

At the core of the project is the so-called gender transformation approach : employees of social organizations are to be sensitized to gender equality on site and trained accordingly. The goal is to integrate equality into local structures, also taking religious and cultural contexts into account. However, it is difficult to determine which measures are actually being implemented.

Strategic reorientation within the framework of “feminist development policy”

Under the title "Capacity Building and Gender Training for Grassroots Civil Society Organizations and Social Work Stations in a Chinese Province," the BMZ provides information on the status of the project on its website . However, this is only partially accurate. According to the ministry's transparency portal, current expenditures amount to zero euros. This is surprising, given that the project has already been running for two years.

In response to an inquiry from the Berliner Zeitung, the BMZ stated: "The figures do not reflect the current status. Funding totaling €182,500 has been disbursed for the project so far." The ministry could not provide any specific information on which organizations received funding or how the aforementioned "gender trainings" are being implemented in practice: "The KZE decides independently how to use the funding, how to structure its projects, which partner organizations it cooperates with, and which content-related and regional priorities it sets."

The project sponsor, the Catholic Central Agency for Development Aid, has not yet responded to a request from the Berliner Zeitung. Furthermore, the project has not been independently evaluated. According to the ministry, external assessments are only conducted randomly and usually only after the funding period has ended.

The project in China is only a small part of the BMZ's strategic reorientation within the framework of "feminist development policy," as defined in the Third Action Plan for Gender Equality (2023–2027). The so-called gender approach of German development cooperation focuses on the relationship between the sexes. The goal is not only to strengthen women's rights but also to systematically dismantle discriminatory structures.

By 2025, 93 percent of the funds are to be invested in equality projects

In the chapter "An Institution Is Establishing Itself," the ministry emphasizes the importance of effective grievance mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of German development cooperation. A key concern is increased financial support for local, feminist, and civil society actors—"especially grassroots organizations and human rights activists ."

The BMZ has set itself a clear goal: By 2025, 93 percent of newly committed project funds are to be allocated to projects that promote gender equality. The ministry is not only aiming for a quantitative increase in funding, but also for a "qualitative realignment in line with feminist development policy."

This feminist development policy is based on an inclusive, non-binary understanding of gender and recognizes social diversity. Discrimination is examined not only based on gender identity, but also taking into account other characteristics such as language, age, disabilities, ethnic or social background, religion, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation. The policy aims to take these diverse realities into account and focus on all marginalized groups.

The action plan also uses the term “mainstreaming,” which loosely translated means making gender equality the mainstream of all political measures and thus integrating it into all areas and projects in the long term.