Risk management and corporate security might sound abstract at first, but the objective is very clear. Our job is to ensure that GIZ’s work runs smoothly – even in fragile contexts. At the same time, security should not be an unnecessary burden to our staff in their day-to-day work. We create conditions that allow our colleagues to focus entirely on their projects.

We do this in all sorts of practical ways. We train new staff, analyse security situations, provide information, carry out planning and ensure that everyone can work safely and effectively. In addition to the communication skills this requires, we also need to have detailed knowledge of the issues, empathy, psychological understanding and empathy as well as personal resilience.

I was drawn to foreign travel at an early age. After my officer training, I was sent on foreign assignments with the German Armed Forces in Afghanistan and Kosovo, which is where I first came into contact with GIZ. I found the international work really interesting and varied, so when I returned to my home town of Leipzig, I applied for a GIZ job in security-related training in Afghanistan. I started out as a training consultant in GIZ’s risk management project in Kabul in 2014. After that, I took up positions in Mazar-e Sharif and Feyzabad.

In 2019, I moved to Corporate Security in Germany, where I learned about risk management from a corporate policy perspective. My time there was largely dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. I experienced first-hand the realities of crisis management in an international organisation: from crisis teams and government coordination to large-scale evacuation flights and the safe repatriation of staff from overseas. In my private life, too, the pandemic and lockdowns brought changes. After many years in a long-distance relationship, my wife and I were suddenly together around the clock – which was a completely new and unexpected adventure.

My next foreign assignment, in 2021, took me to South Sudan, the youngest nation in the world. That was an intense time full of challenges. GIZ was working to redevelop the portfolio, but in the early days it was almost impossible to leave the capital Juba. My job involved setting up a risk management office from scratch. My team and I redefined the infrastructure and processes that made it possible to work safely in the region and to drive forward projects outside the city. That was a huge responsibility, but it was also a lot of fun. We succeeded in opening our own offices in four South Sudanese entities, from which we now work directly with local communities and farmers. Over the past three years, the portfolio has enjoyed secure and successful growth.

I’ve been back in Germany since late 2024 – and that’s where I'll be staying for the next few years. This suits me perfectly, as my wife and I recently had a baby. At the moment I’m enjoying spending time with my family – without the threat of a state of emergency. As for future foreign assignments? That would be something we would decide together as a family. But for now, I’m looking forward to the changes that the next few months will bring to my professional and personal life.
Best regards,

Matthias Militzer

January 2025