Highlights

akzente spotlights political and social developments. Essays by leading authors contribute to current debates, and interviews and comments help broaden horizons. Infographics provide a clear presentation of complex issues.

Change

Interview

‘Digitalisation as an opportunity to overcome differences instead of deepening divisions’
Food security is under pressure worldwide. GIZ expert Diana Diekjürgen explains the role that digitalisation could play for food security in the future.
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Interview

A magazine in transition
akzente is transitioning to become a purely online publication. GIZ Press Spokesperson Ute Schaeffer and Jörg Schindler, who was responsible for the magazine in the late 1990s, talk here about akzente as it was and is.
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Change

Much achieved, but still a lot to do
Where GIZ stands after ten years, and why the company must continue to evolve. A contribution by Tanja Gönner, Chair of the Management Board
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Interview

‘Climate is at the heart of development policy’
Svenja Schulze is new to the German Development Ministry but not to Government. Her priorities are climate, poverty, gender, health and crisis prevention. In an interview, she discusses German development policy in flux.
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Education

Infografic Education

Light and shade
In the years before COVID-19, the global community made great strides in education. Some of that progress is now at risk. We take a closer look.
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Essay Education

Learning for the future
South Africa-based education and science writer Megan Lindow explains how education can make societies fit for the challenges ahead.
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Interview Education

‘Children are eager to return to school’
Alice Albright about the significance of learning and why children cannot wait to get back to school.
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Background Education

Learning from the pandemic
Using the crisis in education as an opportunity to rethink and modernise – that is the order of the day, and GIZ’s aim. A column by Michael Holländer.
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Food and nutrition

Interview

‘Taking a holistic view of climate change and agriculture’
The following interview with GIZ experts Christel Weller-Molongua and Jochen Renger focuses on hunger and nutrition.
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Report Mali

Women’s harvest
In northern Mali, women smallholders are providing good and healthy food. They are enhancing not only their income, but also their standing in the community.
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Guest Column

Food waste vs. hunger
Millions of people are undernourished although tonnes of food are allowed to perish or are thrown away. That is an issue that concerns all of us.
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Background

The bigger picture
Investing in good nutrition is one way to leverage sustainable development. Find out more about GIZ’s work in this area.
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Coronavirus

Infographic

Coronavirus at a glance
akzente presents a selection of facts and figures that illustrate the positives and negatives of the pandemic.
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Guest-Column

Towards a green and blue recovery
A guest column by Gabriel Quijandría Acosta, Environment Minister of Peru
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Report

Chain reaction in a crisis
After a decade of gradual progress in Colombia, the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated social and environmental conflict.
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Interview

‘Equitable distribution is vital’
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the current state of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Cities

Report

Together against flooding
The Indian city of Bhubaneswar is working to curb flooding and unblock drains.
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Background

The future is urban
Cities have a key role to play in efforts to meet climate and development goals. GIZ advises municipalities and supports public involvement in decision-making.
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Interview cities

‘Sustainability remains a key issue’
Ashok-Alexander Sridharan is the Mayor of Bonn. He wants the city of his birth to be carbon-neutral by 2035.
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Infographic

Blessing or curse?
Never before have so many people lived in cities. Facts and figures from the big-city jungle.
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Democracy

Essay

Wanted and threatened
People around the globe yearn for democracy – at least when it offers more than elections. Stefano Palestini explains why the Chilean example is a case in point.
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Infographic

How do things stand?
Opinions, feelings and hypotheses about the state of democracy abound. A look at the world of facts and figures helps to put things in perspective.
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Interview

‘It’s a matter of equality’
In democracies, towns and local authorities should be given more powers, says social scientist Shandana Khan Mohmand from the University of Sussex.
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Waste

Background

Global network for solid waste management
Reduce, reuse, recycle – as much and as efficiently as possible. These goals are the focus of GIZ’s work with waste.
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Essay Waste

Throwaway lifestyles
Humans seem to be drowning in their own waste. Essay by environmental journalist Joachim Wille
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Infographic Waste

As far as the eye can see
Waste knows no borders, as a glance at the world’s cities, seas and rivers shows – we are even littering space with our debris.
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Interview

‘The time to act is now’
Interview with Maria Cristina Fossi, professor of ecology and ecotoxicology and environmentalist
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China

Views on China

Five perspectives
Public debate about China is often characterised by superlatives and clichés. akzente asked five experts to present their views.
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Background

Intercultural bridge-builders
China’s relationship with Germany and Europe is more important than ever. GIZ is working to strengthen mutual understanding.
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Infographic China

Faster, higher, further
Environmental protection and pollution, extreme poverty and growth – China’s development remains contradictory.
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Interview Zheng Han

‘China is hungry for success’
Interview with Zheng Han, Chair of the Sino-German School for Postgraduate Studies at Tongji University in Shanghai
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