GIZ-Projects extended by two years

Under the leadership of Dr. Karen Petry, the previous successful cooperation with the sector project "Sport for Development" of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) was extended for another two years. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ has been implementing various sport and movement-related programs since 2012 together with its partners in Germany and abroad with the aim of making a contribution to development policy in the partner countries of German Development Cooperation (DC).

The team of the German Sport University Cologne will in future support GIZ in the areas of "impact assessment" and "capacity development". Both are classic development policy topics: In the context of impact measurement, the main aim is to develop and conduct studies using methods of qualitative and quantitative social research in order to identify changes at the level of participating children and young people in sports programs in partner countries. Initial studies are being designed in Uganda and Northern Iraq with the GIZ team in Germany and local staff on site. It is important for all studies to refer to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs). Within the framework of impact assessment, the team of the German Sport University also develops a variety of further education and training concepts on the topic of "impact-oriented monitoring" and conducts them in the form of web seminars and face-to-face events in the partner countries Indonesia, Colombia, Uganda, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Serbia), among others.

In the context of the activities in the area of "Capacity Development", overarching quality standards are being developed for the corresponding programs in the form of qualification requirements in various fields of development policy (including education, gender equality, vocational training, inclusion and violence prevention). These standards are in turn conveyed in the form of web seminars and on-site training in the respective GIZ partner organizations and countries.

"I am very much looking forward to further cooperation with GIZ and BMZ in the next two years. There are interesting consulting and development tasks ahead, which will be even more challenging than usual, not least due to the worldwide effects of the COVID pandemic and the current situation in emerging and developing countries", says project manager Dr. Karen Petry. In addition, the cooperation offers the institute the opportunity to continue to make a visible contribution to national and international scientific discourse.