Navigating a Changing World: Inside the GIZ Sector Network Health & Social Protection Global Conference 2025
@GIZ 2025
As global health and social protection systems come under mounting pressure, the GIZ Sector Network Health and Social Protection (SN HeSP) Global Conference, held from 9-11 December 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, offered a timely space for reflection and strategic dialogue. The Sector Network brings together 57 GIZ health and social protection projects from across the world and is a community of more than 500 GIZ staff members working in the two sectors at national, regional and global levels. Ethiopia hosts some of the continent’s most ambitious health and social protection programmes – including one of Africa’s largest safety net programmes – as well as is home to Africa CDC, the continent’s premier public health agency and one of GIZ’s most values partners across the region, making it the ideal backdrop for the conference.
The timing could hardly have been more consequential. Aid budgets are contracting. Geopolitical fault lines are deepening. Climate shocks are hitting health systems with increasing ferocity. And just days after the conference, BMZ’s reform agenda “Shaping the Future Together Globally” was officially unveiled, a process whose direction had already been palpable in the room. Against this backdrop, one central question loomed over the proceedings: how can German development cooperation in health and social protection remain impactful, credible, and relevant when the world it was built for is changing faster than ever?
Global Conference 2025
Programme and speakers
Day 1: Big Questions, Bigger Stakes
Following the official welcome by Dorothee Hutter, Country Director, GIZ Ethiopia & Djibouti; Dr. Kirstin Grosse Frie, Co-Spokesperson for the Sector Network, and Ibraheem Sanusi, Project Lead of the host project “Strengthening the African Union’s Health Architecture”, the opening session featured an address by Dr. Raji Tajudeen, Deputy Director General, Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC). He highlighted the growing importance of resilient health systems, regional institutions, and coordinated responses given the marked increase in disease outbreaks on the continent in recent years. Turning to partnerships, he remarked that GIZ consistently ranked among Africa CDC’s top strategic partners, particularly in initiatives linked to Team Europe, the One Health agenda, and efforts to strengthen continental health architecture.
Dr. Tajudeen’s speech was followed by the keynote address by BMZ Director General for Africa, Birgit Pickel, who joined virtually and set the stage for the forthcoming discussions. Her message echoed the direction in which German development policy is evolving as highlighted in the recently published BMZ reform: strengthening national health spending and country ownership, strategic engagement of private-sector, stronger local and South-South partnerships and multilateralism.
Ms. Pickel also underlined Germany’s commitment to strengthen multilateral institutions such as WHO, GAVI and the Global Fund as well as African institutions such as Africa CDC, East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Her message carried a challenge as much as a commitment:
Increasing national spending, making health a priority in countries and living up to collective commitments must remain high on the agenda if we really want to make impact on health systems.
In closing, she reiterated that Germany continues to be a reliable partner in health and social protection.
Reimagining Cooperation in Health and Social Protection in a Shifting Global Landscape
Following the opening, a panel discussion explored how international cooperation actors are repositioning themselves amid declining official development assistance (ODA) and shifting geopolitics. Moderated by Ralf Radermacher, Head of Section – Health, Social Development and Digitalization, the discussion brought together perspectives from civil society, multilateral organizations, development banks, and philanthropy, highlighting a shared recognition that the current moment demands not only adaptation, but transformation.
Faith Nekabari Nfii from the non-profit organization VillageReach emphasized that shrinking external funding, while challenging, presents an opportunity for African countries to rethink aid dependence and strengthen domestic health financing. She highlighted a growing shift toward regional coordination, consolidation of national health insurance schemes, and stronger accountability mechanisms involving CSOs. Drawing on examples from Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda, she underscored how health is increasingly viewed as an economic investment rather than a social cost, aligning with continental ambitions such as the Abuja Declaration and Agenda 2063.
Representing UNICEF Ethiopia, Daniel Kumitz, framed 2025 as a turning point for the UN system, as long-planned reforms move from strategy to implementation. With donor funding becoming less predictable, UN agencies are streamlining structures, strengthening regional hubs, and deepening localization efforts. He highlighted Ethiopia’s experience as a powerful example of domestic resource mobilization and national self-reliance, reinforcing the importance of government-led financing models complemented by coordinated multilateral support.
From the World Bank, Christabel Ewuradjoa Dadzie, outlined the institution’s “One World Bank” reform agenda, which integrates financing, private sector engagement, and risk instruments to better serve country priorities. She highlighted large-scale social protection initiatives such as Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme and the SP500 agenda, emphasizing pooled financing, system building, and government leadership as essential for resilience amid declining Official Development Assistance. She also discussed the PSMP (Public Sector Modernization Project), one of the Bank’s largest social protection engagements in Africa. The program has a unique donor model dating back to around 2010, which she described as forward-looking because it recognized early on that meaningful progress requires working together.
Finally, Kalkidan Lakew Belayneh from Gates Foundation described philanthropy’s catalytic role, de-risking innovation, strengthening systems, and convening partners, while reinforcing that sustainable progress depends on government ownership and aligned national strategies.
Across the panel, the mood was pragmatic: the era of predictable donor funding is over. But rather than retreat, the message was to reframe. The disruption is also an opening, to build health and social protection systems that are more durable, more locally owned, more regionally anchored, and more intelligently financed than what came before. The task now is to make that opening count.
The second half of the day shifted from high-level reflections to solution-oriented Technical Deep Dives focusing on practical responses to an increasingly complex global environment. Discussions explored shifting dynamics in international health collaboration, the integration of social protection into climate and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) frameworks, and lessons from Mpox outbreak responses on the continent. Further sessions examined climate resilience in practice, community accountability in health systems, partnerships for sustaining sexual and reproductive health and rights amid shrinking fiscal space, and gender-inclusive social protection, grounding the conference’s strategic themes in concrete, action-oriented examples.
Day 2: Leadership Perspectives on GIZ’s Strategic Direction
The day opened with a fishbowl session that enabled a candid exchange between GIZ senior management and staff. With empty seats in the inner circle, colleagues were invited to step into the discussion and the open spots were snapped up almost immediately. The energy in the room was palpable: staff seized the chance to put questions directly to Divisional heads. Creating an open dialogue on the forces shaping GIZ’s future, it was one of the conference’s most animated moments.
Dr. Matthias Rompel, Head of Division, East Africa and Horn of Africa, highlighted Germany’s emerging leadership role in global health, and the shift of health financing toward multilateral channels. Despite these changes, he emphasized a positive outlook for the 2025–26 budgets and encouraged teams to act decisively. Dr. Julius Spatz, Head of Division, Asia 2, who joined virtually, noted that GIZ’s Health and Social Protection portfolio would undergo changes, as global priorities shift toward emerging economies. He stressed the growing importance of private-sector collaboration and the need to clearly communicate GIZ’s value. Thorsten Giehler, Head of Division, Economic and Social Development, Employment, emphasized the need to better align development cooperation with Germany’s industrial strengths, positioning health and social protection as strategic entry points. Carolin Bansbach, former Head of Section, Health, Education & Social Development, closed by highlighting GIZ’s strong social protection portfolio and expanding financing opportunities, urging teams to break silos and work more collaboratively.
The second half of the day shifted to hands-on collaboration, with Working Group meetings led by the five Sector Network Working Groups – Health, Pandemics and One Health; Social Protection; Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights; Vaccines and Pharmaceutical Production; and Digital Health and Social Protection. The meetings explored a range of topics such as practical pathways for integrating health and social protection more effectively, including nutrition-sensitive approaches, climate-linked financing and digital delivery mechanisms among others.
In parallel, Project Leads brainstormed with the Management on portfolio development and critical themes such as engagement with the private sector, partnerships with multilateral agencies and the cooperation between financial and technical cooperation.
The last slot of the day was for workshops on topics such as Team Europe Initiatives where a hybrid discussion was held on lessons learnt and the outlook for the TEI instrument and EU funding. An agreement was reached to set up an internal knowledge exchange on TEIs. In parallel, GIZ International Services with its new strategy for health offered a workshop on third party engagement to add value to existing health portfolio and expertise.
Day 3: Deepening Collaboration and Showcasing Impact
On Day 3 teams showcased concrete results from various thematic areas from ongoing projects across the world. The conference concluded with a forward-looking session by Thorsten Giehler on the upcoming Technical Expertise reform, which aims to transform how expertise is organized and mobilized within GIZ. He emphasized that sector networks are the backbone of this shift, to be formalized and expanded in order to better connect product development, implementation, and knowledge sharing across the organization. The Sector Network Health and Social Protection has been undergoing a significant transformation over the last two years and is well positioned to align with this new vision. Over the past year strategic consolidation of working groups has led to a streamlining of the structures of the community, while gradual reduction in the number of speakers has enhanced focus and efficiency. At the same time, closer alignment with the management for strengthened coherence and direction is also already well underway.
Field Trips
The day ended not in a conference room but in the field. Groups of GIZ staff visited Africa CDC headquarters; Hamlin Fistula Centre, a healthcare network dedicated to the eradication of obstetric fistula; and participated in an exchange with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women and Social Affairs and UNICEF to discuss integrated social protection for pregnant women and young children.
Looking Ahead: Strategic Directions in a Time of Reform
Three days of dialogue, debate, and deep dives left the HeSP community with a clearer sense of direction and a sharper appetite to act on it. Across sessions, several strategic priorities crystallized: deeper engagement with multilateral institutions and EU partners; closer coordination between technical and financial cooperation; and more deliberate integration of digital tools, climate considerations, and private-sector partnerships into health and social protection portfolios.
Three cross-cutting themes ran through the discussions, each resonating directly with the BMZ reform’s core direction. First, the shifting donor landscape is not merely a funding challenge; it is a positioning opportunity. As other donors pull back, the expectation on BMZ and GIZ to step forward and to articulate what makes German development cooperation distinctive has never been more acute.
Second, discussions highlighted that innovation can no longer be treated as optional. Digital solutions, private-sector engagement, and new financing models were repeatedly mentioned as essential for future programming. At the same time, participants stressed that innovation must be embedded within public systems and aligned with partner-country priorities. This balance between innovation and sustainability strongly reflects the reform’s emphasis on results, relevance, and long-term impact.
Third, coherence, internal and external, is no longer optional. Working in silos across instruments, units, and sectors like health, social protection, climate, and migration is a luxury the current moment does not permit. Participants were clear: the reform’s push to reduce fragmentation and connect the dots across GIZ’s portfolio is not just organisationally sensible, it is operationally essential.
Throughout the conference, health and social protection were framed as central to resilience, equity, and social cohesion, particularly in contexts affected by economic shocks, climate stress, and demographic change. Social protection systems were discussed not only as safety nets, but as stabilizing investments with broader development and political relevance.
Finally, the gathering demonstrated the strength of the Sector Network itself, a community rich in expertise, critical thinking, and commitment. It also offered a shared understanding that the future of health and social protection will be shaped not in isolation, but through collaboration, innovation, and sustained dialogue between policy and practice. As global conditions continue to evolve, this collective capacity will be essential to ensuring that German Development Cooperation remains responsive, relevant, and impactful.
The road ahead for German development cooperation in health and social protection will not be straightforward. Budgets will remain tight, priorities will keep shifting and the demands on partner countries will grow faster than the resources available to meet them. But the Addis conference was a reminder that the HeSP community is not waiting for certainty before acting. It is doing what effective development practitioners have always done: learning from each other, sharpening the shared agenda, and showing up — reliably, knowledgeably, and with conviction — for the partners who need them most.
Alina Berendsen-Gnassounou, Franziska Fuerst, Kirstin Grosse Frie, Poornima Thapa
April 2026