akzente 2/2020 The GIZ Magazine Tracking down the truth Supporting forensic scientists in Mexico Together against flooding Holding back the water in India Room for ideas Creating start-up networks in Iraq Cities Laboratory of the future

Editorial CITIES – LIFE – PEOPLE Why it makes sense to plan and support urbanisation actively. CITIES have never been under such pressure. Their role is to build places to live, provide education, ensure air quality, create eco- nomic incentives, organise cultural events, manage traffic, fight poverty – and now tackle a pandemic, too. Nowhere is the risk of being infected with coronavirus greater than in areas with a high population density and where social distancing is difficult to practice. From Wuhan to Bergamo, Madrid to New York, and Mexico City to Mumbai, the pandemic is impacting massively on all those living in cities. EVEN WITHOUT A PANDEMIC, cities face huge pressures. Their non-stop expansion poses ever greater challenges. The urban pop- ulation has outstripped the rural population since 2007, and by the middle of the century, towns and cities will probably be home to two thirds of the world’s population. And these are not new predictions, either: experts were making them 10 years ago, when the city of Shanghai hosted Expo 2010. The theme of the Expo was ‘Better City, Better Life’. I visited it twice on business and saw for myself the huge range of approaches to im- proving human life through smart cities. Two very different approaches have stayed with me in particular. One was a simulation of a city without the flickering lights of street ad- vertising, projected by artists onto São Paulo. This city of 12 million inhabitants – or 22 million, depending on whether you include all the suburbs – is one the world’s largest ur- ban areas. Light can put pressure on the pop- ulation and the environment if there is too much of it. This is what is known as light pollution, as opposed to air pollution. The Danish city of Odense, by contrast, has just 180,000 inhabitants and is peaceful and idyl- lic. In Shanghai, the city presented its cy- cle-friendly credentials, inviting visitors to take to two wheels to see for themselves. A TALE OF TWO CITIES. What these two very different cities have in common is that they put people at the centre of the way they operate. Urban development has tradition- ally focused on individual sectors, such as water, waste disposal or mobility, taking a more detached, technical approach involv- ing infrastructure measures. Now, though, we need to think more holistically. So our urban expert Carmen Vogt writes in this is- sue about sustainable urban development that is more than the sum of its many parts. The principle focus, she concludes, is on people. SO IT IS WORTHWHILE taking a more proac- tive approach to urban development and tailoring it to what individuals need, rather than simply letting it happen. Density of population is actually a great opportunity: it is possible to achieve a lot within a small space, to develop sustainable solutions for living, to put transport on a more sustain- able footing and to create a circular econo- my. A decade ago, at the Expo in Shanghai, there was already support for the concept of towns and cities as a laboratory, an opportu- nity to really make use of human creativity and transform cities into what they actually should be, namely hubs for a productive co- existence and a decent quality of life for all. Maybe the current hiatus caused by the coronavirus crisis offers an opportunity to achieve this. At least, that is how Bonn’s Mayor, Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, sees it. In an interview with akzente, he explains what the crisis has to do with sustainability and why the pandemic has made this even more important. WHAT URBANISATION means – and should not mean – for Africa is set out very clearly in a forward-looking essay by Ghanaian ur- ban planning expert Professor Seth Asare ) 3 . P ( L E G O V A I R A M / N E F A R G O T O F F O H , ) 2 . P ( Y R T S O V N A T S I R T : S O T O H P akzente 2/20 3 SABINE TONSCHEIDT, Director of Corporate Communications sabine.tonscheidt@giz.de Okyere. He argues that we should be aiming not for glass palaces hidden away behind se- cure walls, or for smart, hi-tech districts, but affordable housing, adequate green spaces, universal basic services and greater citizen participation. These are the things that make even rapidly expanding cities good places to live in. Finally, our report from the Indian city of Bhubaneswar shows that citi- zens can indeed achieve great things by working together in areas such as climate change adaptation. THESE AND OTHER urban development ini- tiatives, both big and small, form the focus of this issue of akzente. And maybe one of the articles will give you some ideas for your own community?

Contents SNAPSHOT Swept into slumber How the coronavirus pandemic is changing cityscapes worldwide. p. 38 PERSPECTIVES Room for ideas The vibrant start-up scene in Iraq is gearing up for the future. p. 42 O F N I E T N E Z K A , Y T I L I B A N I A T S U S 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 INTRODUCING Buenos días from San Salvador! Project manager Jan Bock protects the forests of Central America. p. 50 EU SPECIAL Joining forces for Europe A quick look at what European cooperation can achieve p. 40 akzente 2/2020 The GIZ Magazine Tracking down the truth Supporting forensic scientists in Mexico Together against flooding Holding back the water in India Room for ideas Creating start-up networks in Iraq Cities Laboratory of the future COVER IMAGE Our cover shows a futur- istic vision of Lagos by Olalekan Jeyifous. You can find out more about the artist and his work at akzente.giz.de/en. akzente 2/20 5 ) W O L E B 5 . P ( E T A V I R P , ) T H G I R R E P P U 5 . P ( T R E B H T U C A I V I L O , ) T F E L R E P P U 5 . P ( Y L L E K W E R D N A / S R E T U E R : S O T O H P

News THREE QUESTIONS FOR ‘We need nature more than ever, as a solution, as a resource, for respite and for life on earth.’ RICHARD DEVERELL, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London VERÓNICA NUÑEZ The 24-year-old product designer from Peru completed a German-style course of dual training. It included a placement at Faber-Castell Peru, where she developed a box for felt-tip pens that is now sold across the country. Why did you leave university to take up a dual training course? When I left school, I was advised to study commu- nications, but I could see that it wasn’t for me. I’m very creative and like designing and making things. So when I heard about the dual training programme in product design, I knew that was what I wanted to do. Has the dual training programme helped you access the labour market? Definitely. Alongside the theoretical training at the Toulouse Lautrec institute in Lima, I gained practical experience at Faber-Castell as part of a vocational training programme accredited by the German-Peru- vian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Studying at the institute and working in the company at the same time was quite demanding, but it really paid off. Once I finished my training, the company imme- diately took me on. What professional success have you achieved so far? After four years with the company, I am now self- employed. My portfolio includes product design and jewellery design, and I work for a number of small businesses. Things are a bit difficult at the moment because of the coronavirus crisis, but I have solid training behind me and I know what I want. www.bmz.de/experts (German only) ) 7 . P ( H C S Z T N E R N A I L U J : N O I T A R T S U L L I , ) 7 . P ( E L L E G L E A G / A O C O C E L B A N I A T S U S M U R O F , ) 6 . P ( N A S P E E D N A S / Z I G : S O T O H P A bountiful harvest CÔTE D’IVOIRE Most of the cocoa grown in Côte d’Ivoire is produced by small family farms. With support from GIZ, they are now able to in- crease their yields and improve the quality of the cocoa they produce. Following a successful first phase, the PRO-PLANTEURS project has been extended for a further five years. GIZ has advised 35 cooperatives in the south-east of the country and trained 7,700 cocoa growers in farm manage- ment and a further 5,400 in good ag- ricultural practice. 20,000 farmers have so far received support, and the aim is to reach 10,000 more. The proj ect focuses particularly on wom- en: more than 2,100 women have seen their earnings increase, and PRO- PLANTEURS has trained 76 female rural advisors to advise 22,700 families on good nutrition. Mean- while, to boost climate resilience, the project has distributed 60,000 trees to provide shade for cocoa planta- tions. PRO-PLANTEURS is a joint project by the German Federal Min- istry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the German Federal Minis- try for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa and Côte d’Ivoire’s Conseil du Café-Ca- cao (Coffee and Cocoa Board). akzente 2/20 7

COVID-19 special ‘Good health systems are important to us all’ For 12 years, GIZ planning officer Susanne Grimm managed health programmes in Asia and Africa. Since 2018, she has been part of the Health competence centre in Eschborn. to ensure that their population is fully protected against infection and to provide effective treatment, but they also need public infor- mation. We learned lessons from the 2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, in which the turning point came when a well-informed pop- ulation began to adopt the right behaviours. How is GIZ supporting its partner countries in the coronavi- rus crisis? We immediately supplied protective equipment and testing kits and supported public information campaigns. The digital notifi- cation system in Ghana and Nigeria has been expanded: COVID-19 data is now recorded quickly and centrally. In West and East Africa, we have been assisting with regional epidemic plans and cross-border field simulations since 2015, and that is proving really beneficial in the coronavirus crisis. What is pandemic preparedness, and what experience does GIZ have in this area? Pandemic preparedness goes far be- yond well-equipped hospitals. Socie- ties need functioning health systems How is the coronavirus pandemic changing GIZ’s work? COVID-19 is placing greater pressure on us all, and digitalisa- tion is now the ‘new normal’. We are very pleased that coopera- tion has expanded beyond individual sectors. And what is even more positive is that, by taking rapid action on the ground, we have helped to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in many partner countries. — COVID-19 PROJECTS Protection against infection A mission to spread joy Apprenticeship by video NIGER For refugees seeking a better life, Niger is a major transit country. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, GIZ took ac- tion rapidly to improve the equipment in more than 25 hospitals and health centres along migration routes. On behalf of BMZ and the EU, it supplied them with 100,000 masks and protective gloves each, as well as 21,000 bars of soap, 300 hand- washing stations, 250 thermometers, and safety goggles. This equipment will help to protect doctors, nurses and patients alike from contracting the disease. JORDAN These musicians are playing in isolation but also together: each musician records a piece of music at home, and the recordings are then edited into a single video and posted online. Ihssan Al-Maani from the Jordan Youth Orchestra sees this as ‘a mission to spread joy and happiness through our music.’ GIZ launched the initia- tive on behalf of BMZ and also oversees video production. Each musician receives a fee, which goes a small way to making up for the loss of income from concerts can- celled during the lockdown. MOLDOVA Apprentices are learning on- line during the lockdown. Video technol- ogy means they are able to stay in touch with their training company as instruc- tors demonstrate individual processes. Afterwards, they discuss the video virtu- ally with their group. On behalf of BMZ, and with combined financing from the Swiss Agency for Development and Co- operation (SDC), GIZ is supporting busi- nesses and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in improving the quality of in-company training in Moldova. ) W O L E B T F E L , 9 . P ( K A L A B A E R I A M , ) 8 . P ( O T O H P K C O T S I / S E G A M I Y T T E G : S O T O H P akzente 2/20 9

Tracking down the truth Tracking down the truth PAINSTAKING WORK Experts carefully examine a piece of mummified skin. Traces of a tattoo may well provide a crucial clue to the identity of the deceased.

Tracking down the truth Anthropologist Dalia Miranda (second from left) is a key member of the team. Here, she scrutinises infrared photographs. of which around half are unidentified. The task the experts face is difficult. How can they find out who these people were? Iden- tification is often made even more difficult by the condition of many of the body parts. Tattoos provide a clue to identification Forensics experts in Germany would be able to rely on DNA samples, dental records or simply fingerprints. But Mexico does not have a central fingerprint database, and Mexican dentists do not keep detailed dental records. ‘That means we have to rely on secondary characteristics, such as tattoos,’ explains Franziska Holz. She and Christoph Birngruber worked with Mexican col- leagues for six months from October 2019 to improve identifica- tion. On behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office, GIZ is supporting the Latin American country in strengthening its fo- rensic science institutes. ‘Identification needs to be better and faster,’ says Birngruber, who normally works at the university hospital in the German city of Frankfurt. There is a growing backlog of cases for identification, creating an increasing work- load for the institutes – and delays. Every day, mothers, wives and children arrive at these insti- tutes looking for sons, husbands or brothers who have disap- peared. They go directly to the forensics institutes rather than to akzente 2/20 13 MEXICO Capital: Mexico City / Population: 126.2 million / GDP per capita: USD 9,180 / Economic growth: 2.1 per cent / Human Development Index ranking: 76 (out of 189) Source: World Bank 2018 MEXICO Guadalajara Mexico City Mexico is the world’s largest Spanish-speaking democracy, but the rule of law faces a crisis there. The high murder rate, tens of thousands of missing people and almost complete impunity even in the event of the most serious crimes are devastating the country. The current government took office in late 2018, pledging to tackle this humanitarian crisis.

Tracking down the truth and DNA samples – but so far to no avail. ‘It’s great that people from other countries are now taking a look at our systems,’ she says. ‘The pressure from foreign governments will help improve things.’ In order to achieve this, the Mexican and German forensics experts have worked together to systematise databases and have, for example, categorised distinguishing features such as scars and tattoos. This means that specific features found on a body can be compared with characteristics reported by relatives. ‘We wanted to ensure that families don’t have to go through all the informa- tion again every time they make a request but that forensics insti- tutes can use data already on file,’ says Franziska Holz, a forensics expert with Frankfurt’s Goethe University. It’s an ambition she shares with Guadalupe de la Peña, who is thrilled at how the Mexican-German team is collaborating: ‘The great thing about working with Franziska and Christoph has been cooperating on making real improvements.’ Infrared photography and hydrogen peroxide New methods make it easier to discover more identifying marks. Hydrogen peroxide, for example, is fairly easy to use. Applying a dilute solution of this pale blue liquid, a compound of hydrogen and oxygen, lightens the skin for a while, so tattoos stand out more. And where bodies are already mummified, infrared pho- tography can help. The Mexican-German team is using this tech- nology to decipher the tattoo on this A4-size piece of skin. Franziska Holz takes a paintbrush and carefully brushes the earth away from the fragment, which comes from the victim’s back and is adorned with a large tattoo. An outline and traces of colour can be seen. The team turn the piece of skin around, throwing out ideas in a mixture of German, Spanish and English as to what the design might be. A single-lens reflex camera makes the task easier: simply changing the filter turns it into a valuable identification tool. Photographing solely infrared light means that blood can be de- tected on dark fabric, for example, or pigments in tattoos show up. De la Peña photographs part of the skin. The display on the digital camera reveals a black and white image of what looks like a clown or a mythical creature. The young forensics expert then combs the internet for comparable images. ‘This could be it,’ she exclaims suddenly. ‘It’s a harlequin.’ Piece by piece, and centime- tre by centimetre, the team photograph the section of skin. Later, anthropologist Dalia Miranda scrutinises the computer images, trying to piece the puzzle together. Her work is just as challeng- ing as that of her forensics colleagues. The finds Miranda and her colleagues examine range from single bones to complete skele- tons. They have to assess whether remains belong to one individ- ual or several. Traces of recent injury to bones can also reveal the cause of death. In most cases, only bones or skeletons remain of a victim, making the work of anthropologists crucial to the process of identification. akzente 2/20 15 STRENGTHENING THE RULE OF LAW Strengthening the rule of law is one of the major challeng- es facing Mexico. This includes giving the victims of violent crime a name. On behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office, GIZ is working with Mexican state institutions and civil society to improve the identification of the deceased as well as the structures underpinning forensics and the national system for searching for missing persons. The programme provides a range of support for devising and implementing an ‘extraordinary mechanism’ for identifying more than 37,000 unnamed bodies currently stored within forensics institutes, and for exhuming thousands of graves, many of them mass graves. To record victims’ details effectively and to ensure that the recording system operates beyond state boundaries, it is compiling databases and pro - viding appropriate training for Mexican partners. The pro- gramme works closely with the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the German Embassy in Mexico. It has published newspaper and journal articles in Mexico about the cooperation with German forensics experts. Furthermore, public discussion is now focusing increasingly on structural changes in the process of identifying unnamed bodies. Contact: Maximilian Murck, maximilian.murck@giz.de A few weeks later, the tattoo has not been completely deciphered, but it is clear that it is based on three interlinked heads of mythical creatures. Dalia Miranda finds similar tattoos on the internet. This will enable forensic science institutes to search the databases for reference to this kind of tattoo in the information families have registered about missing loved ones. Such painstaking identification processes are needed for many of the victims. But, as Guadalupe de la Peña knows, the work of bringing cases to a successful closure is important: ‘It means families can finally start grieving.’ And that is one of the main reasons she does this work. ‘In Mexico, there is less focus on the victims,’ she argues. The system is not set up to show sensitiv- ity and empathy when dealing with families, she adds, but ‘I am so glad that the work we do can help them achieve a little more peace of mind.’ — KLAUS EHRINGFELD has been living in Mexico since 2001 and reports regularly for the German media. For him and his Mexican colleague, investi- gating the story around the dissecting table was a unique experience. TONATIUH FIGUEROA works as a photographer in Guadalajara.

REPORT Together against flooding How citizens in the Indian city of Bhubaneswar are playing a game to beat flooding. p. 18 OVERVIEW The cities of women Groundbreaking projects that incorporate a female perspective into urban planning p. 22 ESSAY Agile or fragile Professor Seth Asare Okyere on the ideal African city of the future p. 24 INFOGRAPHIC Blessing or curse? Surprising facts and figures from the global big-city jungle p. 30 INTERVIEW ‘Sustainability remains a key issue’ Mayor Ashok-Alexander Sridharan on the role of cities in creating a more sustainable world p. 32 BACKGROUND The future is urban Carmen Vogt, Head of the Cities Section at GIZ, on making cities and municipalities more resilient p. 36 EXAMPLES OF GIZ’S WORK Stronger together Protecting the climate, combating poverty and building safer cities. GIZ is involved in a wide range of urban projects. p. 37

Report Together against f looding The Indian city of Bhubaneswar is working to curb flooding and unblock drains. Using a game in a smartphone app, citizens are helping to solve the problem. TEXT MATHIAS PEER The main traffic arteries are clogged with water and com- muter traffic barely moves for hours. The start of the year is usually a relatively dry period in the large eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar, but this can no longer be guaranteed in times of climate change. On a Wednesday morning in late February 2020, local meteorologists reported 78 millimetres of rain within 24 hours, the highest figure for this time of year since records began. Bhubaneswar is the capital city of the Indian state of Odisha and is considered an emerging hub for digital technology in India. Home to around one million people, the city has seen rapid growth, al- though this has not been planned in every neighbourhood. The effects of this and of extreme weather phenomena are visible. The drain- age systems are unable to cope with flood- waters as they become blocked by mud and refuse. Cleaning teams have to be brought in to ensure the rain can run off properly. The authorities in Bhubaneswar have been grappling with the problem for a long time. While the city has numerous waterways for collecting rainwater and di- verting it away from the roads, these are blocked in many places by illegal buildings on the banks or by tonnes of household waste. Weatherproofing Bhubaneswar is an enormous challenge for the city authori- ties, not least because they lack up-to-date information. They simply do not have the human resources available to monitor on an ongoing basis which areas are current- ly seeing a build-up of water. There have been no alternative technological possi- bilities for doing this in the past, but now Bhubaneswar intends to use a new app to solve the problem. Developed by rep- resentatives from different departments of the city administration, civic organisa- tions and universities in cooperation with GIZ, the app is an example of how GIZ is working on behalf of the German Feder- al Environment Ministry (BMU) to assist municipalities in adapting to the effects of climate change. In the process, Bhubaneswar is count- ing on the population quite literally play- ing along. Aishwarya Nandita is here today to explain to residents of the mil- lion-strong metropolis how the app works. The 24-year-old student has travelled with a group of volunteers to a marketplace in the city’s Nayapalli neighbourhood, which SHARING SOLUTIONS There are a number of strategies cities can employ to protect themselves against the effects of climate change, whether in the form of heavy rainfall or heatwaves. Mu City Savior is one example of how the global ICT-based Adaptation to Climate Change in Cities project is establishing responsive innovation processes to foster transformative climate change adaptation. Selected cities in India, Mexico and Peru are participating in this global programme. GIZ is working with the German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) on behalf of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) to advise these cities on developing, implementing and scaling responsive digital solutions. The findings from the three pilot cities, namely Bhubaneswar, Guadalajara and Trujillo, will be shared around the world. Using open source software, which is free- ly accessible and adaptable, allows other cities to benefit too. GIZ has developed the www.climate-digital-cities.com platform to encourage networking. It offers information about the ‘Internet of Trees’ from Mexico and digital support from Peru for locating relatives after flooding. Contact: Teresa Kerber, teresa.kerber@giz.de akzente 2/20 19

Report Ninety per cent of floods in the metropo- lis can be attributed to blocked drains. The water is usually impeded by carelessly dis- carded packaging, broken branches or rub- ble dumped illegally. ‘We rely on citizens to help us combat this,’ says Panda. It was this recognition that gave rise to the basic idea for the app. External programmers assisted with its implementation. After a year or so, the first version of the app was ready. It is to be made freely available to other municipal- ities in future in line with the open source principle. Panda describes the approach as a challenge for the administration: ‘Working with citizens and other partners to solve a problem rather than setting the direction ourselves from the outset was a complete- ly new approach for us,’ he says. ‘It took us some getting used to initially.’ He believes the experiment has paid off. The Mu City Savior data is fed into an algorithm, which uses it to produce a priority list, updated on an ongoing basis, for drainage works. From October 2020, things will be taken a step further, with the city also collecting the information in a new control room which will manage the metropolis’s resources in real time. ‘We could also use cameras and sensors to mon- itor the drains,’ says Panda. ‘But that kind of technology would be far more expensive and extremely high-maintenance.’ Praise from the Indian Government According to Shabaz Khan, who works as a GIZ technical advisor in India on urban projects for combating climate change and supported the project, there is another key benefit to opting instead for citizen partic- ipation: ‘When local residents play their own part in ensuring the proper func- tioning of the drainage system, they feel a greater sense of responsibility for ensuring that refuse is disposed of correctly in future rather than ending up in drains.’ Volunteer Aishwarya Nandita also ap- peals to people’s sense of responsibility. She and her fellow volunteers have rehearsed a brief play, which they perform on the street, about students in a hall of residence who lose their books and documents in a flood. ‘We wanted to show that flooding is a problem that could affect everyone if we don’t work together to solve it,’ says Nan- dita. The performance has been a resound- ing success: ‘Many people installed the app straightaway.’ It was downloaded some 600 times after the first few information events. Other opportunities will be used in the coming weeks to publicise the app further. And the idea is already attracting at- tention beyond the city’s boundaries. Mu City Savior has been recognised by the Indian Government as the best Climate Smart Cities project of 2020. It is making waves as an example of a digital and cit- izen-centric response to climate change. Around 2,000 kilometres away, the south- ern Indian city of Kochi lies at the heart of a two-million-strong metropolitan area. The municipality on the Malabar Coast, which experiences regular flooding, has already expressed interest in introducing the app itself. This is good news to Shabaz Khan: ‘Every city wishing to use the app is most welcome to do so.’ — Global network: The Mu City Savior vehicle shows the other locations in the Climate Digital Cities network. The project contributes to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): akzente 2/20 21

In museums worldwide The arts scene is male. This was the con- clusion of seven female New York artists in 1985 when the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was reopened with the goal at the time of displaying the world’s lead- ing contemporary artists. In reality, how- ever, less than 10 per cent of those art- ists were female. This was something the group was not prepared to accept and so they decided to engage in an unconven- tional form of protest. They formed the Guerrilla Girls and have campaigned for their cause in gorilla masks ever since. The activists either wear the masks themselves or place them on posters, flyers, etc. The women remain anonymous at all times and it is not known to this day how many members are in the or- ganisation. They denounce discrimination against women in many of the world’s major cities and museums. Other cities besides New York in which the Guerrilla Girls are active include Madrid, London, Paris and Cologne. — Overview In the slums of Nairobi Kibera is a slum in the south-west of the Kenyan capital Nairobi and one of the largest in Africa. It consists of row upon row of huts, most of them without access to clean water, toilets or showers. Rubbish lines the mud- dy paths. Life here is especially hard for girls and women. Besides gener- ally lacking the privacy they really need for taking care of their hygiene, safety is always an issue too. The or- ganisation Women for Women in Af- rica organises and finances courses and classes for girls and young wom- en in Kibera to improve their pros- pects in life. They learn to read and write and, where possible, obtain their school-leaving certificate, which af- fords them greater independence and freedom. — ) W O L E B 3 2 . P ( S E G A M I Y T T E G , ) 2 2 . P ( E R R A T E V E A N I L O R A C : S O T O H P On the streets of Khobar Manal al-Sharif set up the Women2Drive campaign in Saudi Arabia to oppose the ban on female drivers in the country. In May 2011, she had a female friend film her driving a car in the city of Khobar and posted the video online. Until then, women had not been permitted to take the wheel in the Arab country, something that Manal al-Sharif considered antiquated in the 21st century. The young woman even served a brief prison sentence as a result, but her actions paid off, galvanising a movement and ultimately bringing about a legislative change allowing women to obtain their driving licence and drive in Saudi Arabia since 2018. — akzente 2/20 23

Essay Agile or fragile The future is urban. What cities will look like, whether they service the privileged few or the deprived many, depends heavily on the right manage- ment. Seth Asare Okyere, Assistant Professor for Urban Development Planning, paints a personal picture of the ideal city development in Africa. Illustrations: Florian Bayer It was October 2014 when I frequent- ed Dontobori, Osaka’s popular melt- ing pot. It’s an entire sea of people. Crowds troop in opposite directions, bod- ies seamlessly manoeuvre, shops, eateries and anime centres converge. Just beyond, the busy highways carry fast-paced ve- hicles, the adjoining canal tourist sight- seeing boats, all dwarfed by the very tall concrete or glass buildings of corporate offices while the busy subways can be felt beneath. There is movement everywhere and even the static buildings seem to be in constant motion. This is Osaka, a city of almost 3 million and metropolis of close to 19 million people. Behold, I exclaim to a colleague, what matured urbanisation is: crowded but organised; excessive yet con- trolled. The huge metropolis of Osaka is on the move and has been since the post- war reconstruction. IN THIS ARTICLE 1. CHANGE How rapid urbanisation is transforming the African continent and expanding its cities. 2. TREND The risks of urban planning processes that fail to take account of the whole population. 3. OUTLOOK The opportunities unlocked by shifting perspective from lofty visions to urban realities. Recently, this pattern of urbanisation is finding new ground elsewhere, not the least in Africa, but in a different form and at a different pace. African cities are also on the move, though infant. Despite the fact that the continent is still considered rural (57 per cent), urban population growth was the highest globally between 1950 and 1990 (4 per cent) and it is expected to be more than 3 per cent until 2040. In real terms, the urban population increased from 33 million to 548 million between 1950 and 2018, constituting 13 per cent of the global urban population. Take Accra, for example. A city that was little more than an indigenous enclave of dispersed settlements of fishermen has grown tremendously since the British co- lonial administration declared it the capital of the then Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1877. Between 1960 and 2010, it grew from akzente 2/20 25

Essay ‘With climate change effects high on the agenda everywhere, it is perplexing to ponder the nature of urbanisation.’ sations (agility) are aris- ing. Clearly, in light of existing challenges, it’s a matter of urban sur vival for residents to locally collaborate around diverse interests; make lit- tle out of nothing. Community-based initiatives are growing and networking From the slums of Kibera (Kenya) to the in- formal settlements of Agbogbloshie (Ghana), community-based infrastruc ture, collective alliances to reduce disaster vulnerabilities and collaborative mechanisms for afford- able housing have emerged. Urban poor federations, for instance, are undertaking community-led mapping and enumeration exercises to negotiate and challenge state neglect. Community savings groups are mobilising finance to improve the condi- tion of houses. In some cases, local coali- tions are bringing together NGOs, slum dwellers, professionals and local authorities to address community challenges. These favourable initiatives may offer glimpses of the African city ‘yet to come’. land and the alarming rate of loss of eco- logical resources in peri-urban areas mark trajectories of unsustainable urban devel- opment. With climate change effects high on the agenda everywhere, it is perplexing to ponder the nature of urbanisation, and urban development is creating a fragile fu- ture of severe vulnerabilities to people and places. But it doesn’t end there. Shortfalls in basic services and infrastructure, pollution, crime and acute traffic congestion abound. It is no secret that urbanisation unravels intense activity: people are on the move to work, home and everywhere in between in dense crowds. Given that Africa’s urbani- sation runs faster than development plan- ning, the majority of new urban arrivals end up in informal settlements. Yet, such settlements are often located in vulnerable areas where deprivation, infrastructural de- ficiencies and risks persist. Unsurprisingly, they are home to more than 60 per cent of the urban pop- ulation. In central Accra, informal settle- ments are as visible as the daylight, host- ing one third of the population. In Old Fadama (Accra), access to toilets, water and adequate housing is an acute prob- lem. Year in, year out, makeshift houses of iron sheet, clogged drains and crowded housing units are a common sight. Urban deprivation has no hiding place here. In 2015, floods ravaged most parts of the community, killed 150 people and swept away livelihoods. Frequent outbreaks of fire are also prevalent. However, it’s not all gloomy. African urban residents are not watching their local communities deteriorate. It is with- in the enclaves of so-called fragile living that new collective prac- tices of citizens with community organi- akzente 2/20 27

Essay way to agility. I am convinced that (rapid) urbanisation can be managed and utilised for the benefits of the urban majority. This journey must be cemented on the central pillar of people, especially the urban ma- jority often ignored. New (smart) cities will not change much while older areas continue to experience inadequacies and deterioration. Neither will uncoordinat- ed policy fixes from above or localisation from below. Across the cities my feet have trodden and my hands have worked, it is appar- ent that better results emerge from urban development planning that is organised around a coalition of ordinary citizens, lo- cal authorities, policy-makers, civil society organisations, private agencies and univer- sities. Such coalitions are centred on the actual conditions and aspirations of the urban majority. That is, local authorities should roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty: reach out to local people in their communities to comprehend their lived realities. Also, engage them in the process of defining and framing urban problems, deciding on and experiment- ing with appropriate solutions, while in- cluding their opinions and experiences in reviews and feedback. Ultimately, this is a call for deep local democracy in urban development planning. Secondly, sustainable finance and mo- bilisation is needed to support investments in infrastructure services and facilities. To do this, authorities must control the re- cent exponential growth in foreign direct investments and channel it into sustain- able urbanisation issues. At the local level, co-production (community finance with socially responsible investment from private entities) can provide alternative resources for urban improvement. Additionally, local governments should aggressively improve taxation and levies linked to property and urban land investments. It goes without saying that the benefits should be redistrib- uted to tackle the urban challenges of the deprived many. Thirdly, adequately respond to the chal- lenge of who will plan the future Afri- can city. There is a shortage of accredited planners. Uganda, for instance, has one national association member per 463,102 inhabitants. This lack needs to be addressed through investment in planning schools in terms of infrastructure, capacity building and ‘indigenisation’ of curricula to the real- ities of Africa’s urbanisation. And, fourthly, it means protecting rights to land against elite grabbing. Arguably, I envisage a future African city that plans for and manages urbanisation to work for the wellbeing of the population, especially the urban poor and vulnerable. An Accra, for example, where growth does not mean chaos and high density does not equal confusion. A city where traffic is well managed through bus rapid transits and light rail, affordable housing is promoted and co-produced with citizens and govern- ments, adequate infrastructure is provided and maintained, and local initiatives are not ignored but supported to build capacity for urban management. A city where green and blue spaces are brought back to give life to its growth. A city where aspirations are achievable and the future is driven by the needs of the majority rather than the inter- ests of the few. More importantly, a shift from visions to an actual experience of a city where one can say, the beautiful African city that was not yet, is now finally born. — SETH ASARE OKYERE is a Ghanaian architect and development planner specialising in sustainable and integrated urban development. He has published on a number of topics, including human cities. reality of urban development branding: billboards showing intelligently curated master plans dotted with manicured green spaces, majestic homes and the appeal of smart technologies. It was as if a piece of Singa- pore or Dubai was being grafted onto the African city space. The wealthy set themselves apart from the rest of the city Following the actual developments later, whether in Airport City or Apolonia City, I see exclusive spaces, luxury homes and apartments that speak to the aspirations of the upper class rather than the urban poor majority. These are often gated compounds with (semi-)detached houses of similar Western architectural design and features that suggest conformity to an overall plan. Security, maintenance and order are premi- um values that are not only provided for but also branded to showcase their distinction from the rest of the city. Sadly, most of these new developments either sweep poor peo- ple from their land and livelihood or price those on low incomes out of afford able housing opportunities. It is an apparent paradox that these new models are smart only to a privileged few, as more than 72 neighbourhoods are classified as slums in Accra city alone. The future of Africa’s rapidly urban- ising cities is a contested road of divided, vulnerable and underserved communities (fragile) and a potential of locally oriented collaborative improvement (agile). Either way, urbanisation can perform a quintes- sential role in building future cities that blocks the path of fragility and opens the ) 9 2 . P ( E T A V I R P : O T O H P akzente 2/20 29

Poor air quality 3% In 2018, only 3 per cent of towns and cities in poorer countries met the WHO’s air quality standards. The remaining 97 per cent included New Delhi, Beijing, Lima, Santiago, Kampala and Pretoria. Today, poor air quality is one of the biggest risks faced by urban dwellers. Source: ODI Protecting the climate 70% The future of the world’s climate will be decided in our cities. Urban areas are responsible for around 70 per cent of all global energy use and the corresponding emissions. That makes them crucial in the fight against climate change. Source: WBGU North America Oceania Latin America and the Caribbean Africa Europe Asia 68% 60% 55% 50% 2050 2030 2018 2007 Rise of the city In the middle of the last century, over two thirds of the world’s population lived in rural areas. Since then, the number of people in towns and cities has grown relentlessly. By 2050, the figure is projected to reach around two thirds of the total, marking a complete turnaround within just a hundred years. Sources: UN, World Bank 47% 43% 36% 30% 1970 1950 2000 1990 Life in the slums 880 million Uncontrolled urban growth is a major problem. 880 million people around the world live in slums, often referred to as ‘informal set- tlements’, without water, toilets or an electricity connection. Over 60 per cent of the urban pop- ulation in sub-Saharan Africa currently live in slums. Source: UN-Habitat 1980 1970 1960 1950 akzente 2/20 2050 2040 2030 2000 1990 2020 2010 Urbanisation 90% Africa and Asia are set to experience the biggest shift towards urbanisation between now and 2050, accounting for almost 90 per cent of the total in- crease in the global urban population. Over this period, the proportion of urban dwellers is forecast to double in Asia and triple in Africa. Source: WBGU

Interview ‘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. In an interview with akzente, he explained how he plans to achieve this and what he has learned from municipalities in other countries. Interview: Friederike Bauer Mr Sridharan, you spent most of your childhood in Bonn. You studied here at the university, and have been Mayor since 2015. What do you like most about the ‘Federal City’? Bonn is the smallest cosmopolitan city in the world. It is home to people from 180 countries and a large number of United Na- tions organisations. Bonn is also steeped in over 2,000 years of history and tradition. It is a beautiful, mature city with 330,000 in- habitants, so a fair size. Personally, I like the fact that you always come across people you know here. The city is quite large but well-contained, and that makes its really at- tractive. pretty much unawares by the pandemic – at least by its initial rapid spread. But we very quickly took all the lockdown measures or- dered by the federal and state governments. People here in Bonn have largely complied with the lockdown restrictions. As a result, we were able to prevent an even greater crisis. What do you think are the biggest prob- lems facing Bonn at the moment apart from the pandemic? As I see it, we face two major challenges. One of those is to modernise our transport sys- tems. We need to reduce the volume of traf- fic in the city. And second, we need to up- grade our outdated infrastructure. Does that mean you are a passionate ‘Bonner’? Absolutely! On a more serious note, how do you think Bonn has coped so far with the coronavirus crisis? At first, like everyone else, we were caught What kind of infrastructure are you refer- ring to? I mean everything: roads, bridges, nurs- eries, schools, cultural centres, sports facil- ities. We need to tackle that as a matter of urgency. For two reasons. In the days when Bonn was the capital, infrastructure projects were heavily subsidised – to the tune of 70 per cent – by the Federal Government. That central government funding is no longer there, but of course the infrastructure is still in place. Added to this is the fact that invest- ments have been frequently postponed, leav- ing us in a position over the next few years where we need to undertake a lot of repairs. We have put together some comprehensive plans to tackle that deficit and are pushing ahead with those right now. What exactly is your new mobility strat- egy? We want to get more people moving around the city on bikes and by public transport. That will mean reviewing the timetables. We also have plans to vastly increase our network of cycleways, which already covers nearly 300 kilometres. In fact, we have committed to expanding the cycleways on both sides of the Rhine. We are also looking into build- ing a new bridge over the river that would be solely for cyclists and pedestrians, and we want to improve the cycle links between Bonn and the surrounding region. akzente 2/20 33

Interview tricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), did praise the city for its efforts in a recent interview. Generally speaking, in Germany and other countries, my view is that there are not enough towns and cities taking the kind of rigorous action we need on this issue. There are many other organisations based here in Bonn besides UNFCCC. Both personally and politically, you are in fa- vour of the city’s continued internation- alisation. How successful have you been? First and foremost, that is a matter for the German Government. Ours is merely a sup- porting role, but we are certainly putting a great deal of energy into it. You’re right, our goal is to attract even more organisations to the city and strengthen its profile as an in- ternational centre. I would say that we have been pretty successful at doing that over the last few years. Since I became mayor, a fur- ther nine organisations have chosen to base themselves in Bonn, including a country of- fice of the United Nations Industrial De- velopment Organization (UNIDO), the SDG Action Campaign and the Secretariat of the UN’s Global Water Operators’ Part- nerships Alliance. Incidentally, GIZ also benefits from the international atmosphere here in Bonn. You are also President of ICLEI, a global network of city leaders and local govern- ments. What motivated you to take up that role? I put myself forward because I know how important it is to be part of such networks and to learn from other regions around the world. ICLEI brings together around 1,800 cities worldwide accounting for 30 per cent of the global urban population. As well as be- ing a lot of people, it’s also a great opportu- nity to share ideas. What have you learned from other cities? A lot! To give you an example, Chengdu in China has a high proportion of renewable en- ergy and emobility infrastructure. We’ve been looking into how that can be achieved. I also learned from La Paz how it can make sense to integrate cable cars into the public transport system. In fact, we’ve just launched a project to install a cable car link up to the Venusberg. The process of urbanisation is gathering pace. What do local authorities around the world need to help them manage that process? We need support from national governments and, in those countries with a federal system, from individual state governments. Without that support, it’s just not possible. Also, local authorities need to be given a much greater ) 5 3 O T 2 3 . P ( A P D / R E K C E B S U I R A M : S O T O H P akzente 2/20 35 ‘Cities need more funding, both from national govern- ments and inter- national financial institutions.’ voice, especially when it comes to sustainabil- ity, protecting the climate and dealing with the impact of climate change. After all, it’s the job of those local and regional authorities to implement policies on the ground. That’s why I think it would be a great idea for dele- gations to the UN Climate Change Confer- ence to include municipal representatives. Many towns and cities lack the required funds. How can we solve that? They need more funding, both from national governments and international financial in- stitutions. There still isn’t enough funding available, especially from the latter. It’s really important, though, because without it we just can’t meet the UN’s climate and sustain- ability goals. — For more on the way cities are driving change, see our interview with Ukrainian politician Andriy Sadovyi at akzente.giz.de/en

Examples of GIZ’s work Stronger together Cities have an important role to play as partners and actors in our efforts to build a world capable of sustaining a decent quality of life for all. The input of those who live there is vital. Cities matter In 2016, as part of its new global Agenda, the United Nations highlighted the key role of municipalities, towns and cities in achieving sus- tainable development. One of the German Government’s core objectives is to strengthen these crucial actors in order to meet the climate obligations under the Paris Agreement. Through its many partner- ships, including and especially those with towns and cities, GIZ contributes to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda. — 44 slums PARTICIPATION The effects of global warming pose a particular risk to slum-dwellers. Although many slums are located in flood zones, urban planners fail to give them sufficient attention. On behalf of BMZ, GIZ imple- mented a project covering five cit- ies in Bangladesh, ensuring that slum-dwellers are properly included in disaster prevention plans. Around 17,000 people in 44 slums are now actively involved in climate change adaptation measures. — FINANCE Local authorities often cannot access the funding they need to meet climate targets. The C40 Cities Finance Facility advises municipalities on how to mobilise the funds they require for green infrastructure systems. The plan is to leverage investment of more than EUR 285 million by 2021. GIZ is currently implementing this initiative together with C40 Cities. The project was jointly commissioned by BMZ, the UK Government, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). — Use sparingly and protect INFRASTRUCTURE In Peru, supplies of drinking water to towns and cities are increasingly at risk due to climate-related extreme weather events, population growth and polluted natural resources. Supplies reached critical levels in 2017 due to the Coastal Niño. Clean water is also vital during the current pandemic to keep systems running. On behalf of BMZ, BMU and Switzerland, GIZ is advising the Peruvian Government and city authorities to help them prepare for and respond to climate-related risks. — 16,000 young people SAFETY South Africa’s towns and cities are widely associated with violent crime. Young people are frequently involved, both as perpetrators and victims. On behalf of BMZ, GIZ is supporting measures in the Cape region aimed at preventing violence. Over 8,000 students from 40 schools in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality attended a series of workshops to develop ideas on improving safety. A further 8,000 young people took part in other activities such as debating clubs and seminars on preventing gender-based violence. — K C O T S i : S N O I T A R T S U L L I Learning from one another DIALOGUE Despite all of the differences between them, many cities are struggling to deal with similar problems and need to find ways of creat- ing neighbourhoods that offer a decent quality of life. The ‘urban trans- formation dialogues’ organised by GIZ on behalf of BMI are designed to encourage local authorities all over the world to share ideas and in- formation. The participants work on solutions to urban challenges for up to two years. Their results are used to inform municipal action and national policy. The dialogue format is based on the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities, signed by EU member states in 2007. — akzente 2/20 37

ON BEHALF OF THE COMMISSION The European Union works to promote development, peace and democracy across the globe. GIZ imple- ments numerous projects around the world on be- half of the EU. Whether tackling climate change, fighting for human rights, working with refugees or promoting economic development and employment, GIZ’s work helps to achieve the EU’s objectives. Supporting climate action WORLDWIDE Setting up climate councils in Brazil, support- ing Russia with its decarbonisation process and promoting exchange with South Africa on energy policy – all these initiatives and more are taking place on behalf of the EU and BMU as part of SPIPA, a programme supporting non-European G20 countries with the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Efforts to reduce emissions within Europe are crucial, but the EU produces less than 10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Slow- ing down global warming requires other major emitters to reduce their own emissions as well. SPIPA is cooperating in this area with 15 countries. During Germany’s EU Council Presidency, we will be reporting regularly on GIZ topics connected with the EU: in reports, analyses, interviews and guest articles. Curious to know more? You can find our extensive online special at akzente.giz.de/en. akzente 2/20 41 Giving everyone a say UGANDA It is not a given in Uganda that people can partici- pate and have a say. That makes it all the more important to involve civil society wherever possible. For example on ener- gy topics, which are extremely important due to the shortage of energy. A programme being implemented by GIZ on be- half of the EU and BMZ is allowing citizens to help reshape energy policy for the first time – and to practise democracy while doing so. — Leave no one behind TURKEY Almost four million refugees live in Turkey. This places a huge burden on the country but particularly on those directly affected. To enable individuals and families in greatest need to survive day to day, GIZ is providing support on behalf of the EU, for example with bureaucratic procedures, legal advice and, where necessary, psychosocial support. The principle of ‘leave no one behind’ applies here too. — Halting the flood of waste SOUTH-EAST ASIA Increasing amounts of plastic waste are ending up in our seas. If this does not stop soon, then it is estimated that, by the middle of the century, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. To try to halt the deterioration, GIZ is working on behalf of the EU and BMZ with seven Asian countries. It is involved in around 20 pilot projects with the objective of improving waste management, reducing plastic and changing consumer behaviour. The aim is to create a circular economy. —

Room for ideas ‘Many investors do not know about the start-up scene here.’ ALICE BOSLEY (31), Executive Director of Five One Labs, an initiative for business founders in the autonomous Kurdistan Region ‘We provide a protected space for founders in which germinating business ideas can become reality. We offer a three-month full-time programme for tech companies that are developing ideas or are at an early business stage. It covers all areas – from market research and product development to sales strategies. Between 10 and 15 individ- uals take part in each programme. We try very hard to adapt the con- tent to the local market. With GIZ’s support, we have been able to invite international experts, such as Josh Williams, Senior Product Manager at Starbucks, and Marios Harrane from Careem, a success- ful ride-hailing app in the region. We also organise events such as hackathons. At these kinds of large-scale digital events, the teams jointly develop solutions to a particular problem. And in university lectures, students find out more about entrepreneurial skills. We also want to show investors from the whole region and across the globe that a great deal is happening in this country. Iraq is a huge market. Although many investors are aware of the business potential, they do not know about the existing start-up scene. In the course of our part- nership with GIZ, we have also found out about other start-up ini- tiatives in Iraq. Setting up a tech company here is not easy because the government is constantly issuing new requirements. At the same time, the dynamic nature of these kinds of companies is fantastic. We have introduced grants for women founders because we realised that it is often more difficult for women than for men to drive their company forward. All the women who have taken part have been able to establish their business. Some have now appeared at public events.’ — akzente 2/20 43

Room for ideas ‘I realised straightaway how good the quality of training is.’ ZAHRA FAHDIL (33), founder of Fix IT, a portal to find tradespeople ‘Last year, I was at home with my child and the kitchen sink was leaking. I needed help but I couldn’t find a qualified plumber. I originally come from Najaf, south of Baghdad, and don’t speak very good Kurdish yet. That makes it more difficult to solve every- day problems here in northern Iraq. That’s how I had the idea of developing a basic app which people can use to contact tradespeo- ple such as electricians and plumbers. I knew that I needed exper- tise to make sure my business idea worked. While searching on Facebook, I discovered the range of courses offered by Five One Labs. I didn’t really expect them to accept me. When it started, I realised straightaway how good the quality of training is. I felt I was part of a family. I’ve made very many new friends. I’m current- ly in the third month of the founder programme and am learning the skills you need to lead a successful company. I’ve also already started developing the app, setting up a team and marketing the product name too. The brochures and flyers have been printed and distributed as well. After the course, I want to stay on here as a vol- unteer and help organise events. The events here are tailored pre- cisely to the skills we need. I think my business idea has a good chance, because there are a lot of houses that are in need of proper repair work. I’d like to roll out the app across Iraq so that other people don’t have the kinds of problems that I had. I hope they can use the app to find the service provider they need easily and con- veniently.’ — The project contributes to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): akzente 2/20 45

Room for ideas INTERVIEW become remarkably apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the innovation cen- tres, people immediately began using mod- ern technologies such as 3D printers to re- spond to local shortages in the health sys- tem. The makerspaces quickly changed over to developing protective face shields. They only use locally available materials, so they’re not dependent on imported prod- ucts in the current crisis. More than 10,000 of these shields have already been pro- duced and distributed to hospitals through- out Iraq over the past few weeks. So setting up local digital infrastructure has proved useful? Definitely. The current situation is showing how important local innovation centres are. They responded rapidly to the different needs in the various regions of Iraq. Tai- lor-made products have been developed for the health system directly where they were needed. In order to continue optimising the prototypes, the individual innovation centres across the country are in constant contact with one another. This networking, flexibility and regional proximity reflects the great potential of the innovation cen- tres and the young people there. They have adapted to the crisis spontaneously and developed innovative solutions for the peo- ple of Iraq. What obstacles are there in the production of face shields? And how is GIZ supporting its partners in this acute situation? The lockdown resulting from the pandemic initially made it difficult to give the teams access to the makerspaces. In addition, we had to find out about local needs for pro- tective clothing and medical equipment in the hospitals. Our GIZ project linked up the partners with the relevant authorities and local ministries. Moreover, we are now jointly identifying available materials and production sites in each region. The aim is to scale up manufacture of the face shields and to move it from the makerspaces to local producers. This will also benefit the local economy and will free up the maker- spaces to focus more on product develop- ment again. — BUSE AYŞEN ÇUBUK GIZ advisor on information and communications technology (ICT) – prospects for modern young people in Iraq Ms Çubuk, how have the young tech-loving Iraqis in the innovation centres responded to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic? Initiative and creativity are key features of the digital ecosystem in Iraq. That has now DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION The innovation centre in Sulaymaniyah is one of five throughout Iraq. As well as giving young people the opportunity to gain the skills needed on the labour market, it is also a space where they prepare for self-employment. GIZ is collaborating with these digital hubs on behalf of the German Development Ministry, thereby helping to open up job prospects for Iraqis in the ICT sector. That is important in a country in which two thirds of the population is younger than 25. Many are internally displaced people or refugees from neighbouring countries. The unemployment rate is 20 per cent. In Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Mosul, GIZ has equipped the innovation hubs with workrooms and technologies such as 3D printers, laser cutters and robot technology. More than 5,500 people (30 per cent of whom were women) have attended programming courses, business training and lectures at the centres. The hubs are also setting up networks. That was impressively demonstrated at the country’s first jointly organised hackathon. More than 700 young people came along in person to search for digital solutions to challenges facing their akzente 2/20 47 country, and more than 10,000 people took part online. During the coronavirus pandemic too, they are teaming up to search for solu- tions and are producing face masks (see photo). Contact: Inga Niere, inga.niere@giz.de

Info GOOD READS from around the world WHEN I HIT YOU: OR, A PORTRAIT OF THE WRITER AS A YOUNG WIFE A budding young author gets married. Her husband is a Marx- ist and a famous intellectual. What follows is verbal, physical and sexual violence. Kandasamy presents a multi-layered script about domestic abuse – and gives her heroine the energy to write herself free: using the weapons of literature. — Claudia Kramatschek Meena Kandasamy, India. Juggernaut Publication, 272 pages THE CHILD’S PAST LIFE What a crazy book from China! A thriller that almost explodes from the sheer joy of the plot. A delirious tap dance where crime and fantasy fiction meet. The ‘new China’: corrupt, brutal, greedy and violent. Fascinating and explosive. — Thomas Wörtche Cai Jun, China. Translated from Chinese by Yuzhi Yang. AmazonCrossing, 470 pages STATE OF EMERGENCY An undeclared war has dis- persed the family to every corner of the globe. Jeremy Tiang from Singapore sets the fates of three different genera- tions alongside one another like pieces of a mosaic. He tells a trenchant and gripping tale of the wars of independence in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the massacres are still reverberat- ing in present-day Oxford. — Jörg Plath Jeremy Tiang, Singapore / United States. Epigram Books, 280 pages LITPROM RECOMMENDS Litprom – the Society for the Promotion of African, Asian and Latin American Literature – pro- vided these reviews for akzente. The titles were selected from Litprom’s list of the best new releases. www.litprom.de/en akzente 2/20 49 THE EXPEDI- TION TO THE BAOBAB TREE Towards the end of her life, a former slave seeks shelter in the hollow of a tree and reflects on her life. With bated breath, we follow the narrator’s path through the whole of Africa during the times of slavery and slave catch- ing. A masterly account. — Anita Djafari, Managing Director, Litprom Wilma Stockenström, South Africa. Translated from Afrikaans by J. M. Coetzee. International Publishers Marketing, 115 pages

SUSTAINABILITY A look back at a project and its results ZAMBIA Project: Strengthening Good Financial Governance in Zambia / Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) / Term: 2016 to 2018 THEN NOW In 2016, Zambia’s public finances were in an extremely precarious position. Although the economy recovered briefly following a seri- ous crisis in 2015/2016, government spend- ing continued to significantly outpace reve- nues. On the one hand, tax revenue was too low; on the other, funding was awarded for political reasons without approval from par- liament. From 2011, the public debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) rose almost tenfold from 8.4 per cent to around 80 per cent. In 2018, around 80 per cent of the budget was firmly earmarked to pay the salaries of public officials and to service debts. This meant that there was al- most no financial scope to implement devel- opment-oriented measures. To alleviate this situation and pave the way for a budget with more foresight, GIZ supported the Zam- bian Government in enhancing the transpar- ency, credibility and effectiveness of public finance. GIZ and the Government introduced results- oriented budgeting to ensure that scarce re- sources are used in a targeted way to pro- mote the country’s development. As a result, the Ministry of General Education can now assess how to use funds to ensure that more children have access to education, for ex- ample. To obtain more revenue, GIZ and the tax administration developed ideas for com- panies and individuals. A strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and within the administration helped improve operations. The number of company audits for SMEs therefore rose from 7,651 in 2015 to 9,829 in 2017, an increase of 28 per cent. One of the big problems for citizens was the long waiting time at the tax office. In order to lower the threshold for paying tax dues at the tax office, the tax administration teamed up with GIZ to develop an electronic queue management system. This reduced the wait- ing time from several hours to less than 20 minutes. ) 0 5 . P ( E T A V I R P , ) 0 5 . P ( N O I S I V L A T I G I D / S E G A M I Y T T E G : S O T O H P akzente 2/20 51 AKZENTE Publisher: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Registered offices: Bonn and Eschborn, Germany Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36, 53113 Bonn, Germany T +49 228 44 60-0, F +49 228 44 60-17 66 Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5, 65760 Eschborn, Germany T +49 61 96 79-0, F +49 61 96 79-11 15 E: akzente@giz.de I: akzente.giz.de/en Sabine Tonscheidt, Director of Corporate Communications (GIZ) Responsible: Ute Schaeffer, Head of Media and Public Relations and Press Spokesperson (GIZ) Content concept and editing: GIZ: Nicole Annette Mueller (editor) FAZIT Communication GmbH: Sabrina Pfost (project management), Friederike Bauer, Dr Charlotte Schmitz, Brigitte Spitz, Oliver Hick-Schulz (artistic direction, photo editing), Martin Gorka (infographics) English translation: Janet Fraser, Sue Harrison, Matthew Popplewell, David Tonge, Leighton Twigger; Gillian Lester (GIZ Language Services) Proofreading: textschrittmacher Graphic design/lithography: FAZIT Communication GmbH URL links: Where links are included to external sites, responsibility for the content of these sites lies solely with the provider. GIZ explicitly disassociates itself from all such content. Maps: GIZ/Ira Olaleye The maps are for information purposes only and do not constitute recognition under international law of bounda- ries and territories. GIZ provides no assurance that these maps are up-to-date, correct or complete and accepts no responsibility for loss or damage arising directly or indirectly from their use. GIZ is responsible for the content of this publication. Articles by individual authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. Cover photo and pages 4 and 16: Olalekan Jeyifous All images: GIZ unless otherwise stated Copy deadline: July 2020 Published: three times a year Current issue: August 2020 Printed by: Bonifatius GmbH Druck | Buch | Verlag Printed on: Arctic Volume, certified to FSC standards ISSN: 0945-4497 You can subscribe to akzente free of charge as a printed magazine or as a pdf by sending your email or postal address to akzente-vertrieb@giz.de. You can unsubscribe using the same address. akzente has received several awards for its high-quality journalism and design. In 2018, it won the Best of Content Marketing Award in silver in the crossmedia and website categories.