Peace and security

In response to a prolonged period of drought in the Horn of Africa, KfW used Federal Government funds to finance seven food aid programmes, for example in Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda and Yemen. At total of 8.5 million people benefited from this swift support.

The “Employment campaign” is creating jobs and income in the crisis-ridden Middle East as part of the “Cash for Work” programme. Roads are being repaired, parks cleaned up and schools renovated. People are also being offered training and support in setting up their own businesses. The campaign also involves financing support for 8,000 Syrian volunteer teachers working in Turkey. They are responsible for teaching up to 160,000 children in refugee camps and local schools. A total of more than 52,000 jobs have been created to date.

The Syria Recovery Trust Fund (SRTF) (PDF, 190 KB, non-accessible), which was set up in 2013, is an international fund to promote infrastructure in the areas of Syria held by moderate opposition forces. Projects supported by the fund include the procurement of ambulances and repair work on water reservoirs and grain mills.

Lebanon is not only home to a large number of Palestinian refugees, but has also welcomed thousands of people who managed to escape the war in Syria. In order to create prospects for the overwhelmingly young refugees, KfW is working on behalf of the Federal Government to finance a project that is being implemented via the child welfare organisation UNICEF. The project supports vocational schools and social centres that provide initial or further training to teenagers and young adults.

Find out more in an interview with Joanna Syroka, Director of Research and Development at African Risk Capacity (ARC)

Natural disasters tend to hit the poorest people the hardest, because they often live in particularly exposed areas. KfW is supporting the construction of flood shelters in Bangladesh. The multi-purpose buildings provide accommodation in the event of floods, but also function as schools on a day-to-day basis.

Prevention is better than cure. In order to reduce risks, for example resulting from drought or hurricanes, development work is also focusing on insurance. One of the projects KfW is supporting is African Risk Capacity (ARC) (PDF, 271 KB, non-accessible), which provides protection against these consequences of climate change.

Under mandate by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (“BMZ”), Afghan refugees living in Pakistan are given access, via KfW financing, to legal advice, vocational training and basic healthcare to prepare them for their permanent reintegration in Afghanistan. Returning refugees and the communities that take them in are provided with support in the form of housing subsidies, the expansion of municipal infrastructure and the financing of transfer payments and initial and further training measures in Afghanistan.

On behalf of the Federal Government, KfW is promoting fast and visible improvements in living conditions for refugees and ex-combatants in the DR Congo. The “Peace fund” finances the labour-intensive reconstruction of basic local infrastructure (e.g. schools, health centres, bridges and markets). This promotes local employment and incomes, also for ex-combatants, aids their reintegration into society and creates prospects for a future that does not involve violence.