GTZ

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit

German Agency for Technical Cooperation

Type

Government agency providing technical assistance with limited capital funding throughout the major regions of the world.

Brief Overview

The government-owned GTZ operates in the field of technical cooperation. Some 1,600 German field staff members work with 8,590 locally contracted personnel, and another 800 “integrated experts” are placed with employers in partner countries. Currently, there are 2,800 projects in 142 countries receiving administrative and professional assistance from GTZ Head Office in Eschborn and more than 60 GTZ Offices in partner countries. Experts are responsible for cooperation with individual countries, to ensure that the technical solutions and management methods used in the projects match the sociocultural and economic conditions of the partner countries. Consulting firms, specialist institutions and universities are also used as partners for projects where expertise on specialized issues is needed.

Contact Information

website: http://www.gtz.de/
address:
Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit – GTZ
Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1 – 5
Postfach 51 80
65728 Eschborn 1
Germany
telephone: (+49) 6196 79 0
fax: (+49) 6196 79 11 15

GTZ Headquarters, Eschborn.
Frankfurt City Center is in background.

Stated Goals

To raise people’s capabilities and transfer knowledge and skills to more than four continents.

Regions of Work

Africa, Asia, and Latin America

Areas of Work

GTZ works in 30 development activity areas, some of which are listed below:
1. Water, waste management, and resource conservation
2. Education and science
3. Multi-sectoral urban and rural development
4. Health, population, and nutrition
5. Agro-policies, agricultural service systems
6. Energy and transport
7. Financial systems and the promotion of small scale enterprises
8. Environmental protection

Methods

1. Technical Cooperation:
GTZ works primarily in this area. Activities include appraisal, technical planning, control and supervision of projects commissioned by the Federal Republic of Germany or by other authorities. The agency is also responsible for the recruitment, selection, briefing, and assignment of expert personnel and assuring their welfare and technical backstopping during their period of assignment. Provision of materials and equipment for projects, planning work, selection, purchasing, and shipment to the developing countries are also done by the organization. The GTZ also manages all financial obligations for the partner country.

2. Services for International Financing Organizations:
The GTZ also works for international clients. These include international development agencies, financing institutions and partner-country governments such as the European Union, the World Bank, governments and organizations of the Gulf States, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).

Examples of Upgrading Project

Early projects of GTZ were comprehensive integrated projects in the Dominican Republic, “El Caliche”; Zambia, “Kalingalinga”; Brazil in Belo Horizonte; and Egypt, “Nasriya” in Assuan. In Kenya, the GTZ project in Voi has become a model with its innovative community land trust which links traditional tenure forms and contemporary demands. All projects are highly participatory ranging from joint decision-making to direct labor inputs. GTZ has also undertaken innovative upgrading of historical cities. A landmark project was carried out in Bhaktapur, Nepal, and the principles are now being replicated in the neighboring town of Petan. Current projects include a city-wide initiative in Dakkar, Senegal “Habitat Spontanee/Pikine,” and large-scale projects in Brazil: Porto Alegre, Fortaleza, Recife, Belo Horizonte.

Project Selection Process

Projects are submitted to the German Federal Government by governments of partner countries through official channels. If the objectives and focus of proposals are in line with German development policy, the Federal Government passes on the proposals for technical cooperation to the GTZ. Objectives of and focuses for cooperation are concluded through a dialogue with partner governments, which usually takes place once a year. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is responsible for development policy, and generally commissions GTZ to devise German contributions and provide the necessary services.

GTZ is heavily involved in hands-on field work.


	\| What is Urban Upgrading? \| Doing Urban Upgrading \| Case Examples \| \| Issues and Tools \| Resources \| About This Site \| \| Search Web Site \| Site Map \| Home \| Ask Grady \| Feedback \| Copyright © 1999-2001, The World Bank Group. All Rights Reserved.