INTEGRATED COMPANY REPORT 2014 - GIZ. Solutions that work.

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Faces and Stories Our profile
We provide services worldwide in the field of international cooperation for sustainable
development. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, ranging
from economic development and employment, energy and the environment, through to
peace and security. The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around
the globe – from the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations
and governments of other countries. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Coopera-
tion and Development (BMZ) is our main commissioning party, but we also work closely
with the private sector, fostering the successful interaction between development policy
and foreign trade.
All these commissioning parties trust GIZ to generate ideas for political, social and
economic change on their behalf, to develop these into concrete plans and implement the
envisaged change processes. Since we are a public-benefit federal enterprise, German and
European values are central to our work. This makes us a reliable service provider that
people can trust. Together with our partners, we work flexibly to deliver effective solutions
that offer people better prospects and sustainably improve their living conditions.
The registered offices of GIZ are in Bonn and Eschborn. In 2014 our business volume
exceeded two billion euros. Around 70 per cent of our local workforce of 16,410 people
are national personnel working in over 130 countries. In our capacity as a recognised
sending organisation, we currently have 785 development workers in action in partner
countries. In addition, CIM, a joint operation of GIZ and the Federal Employment Agency,
placed around 1,000 integrated and returning experts with local employers abroad in
2014 while providing them with financial support and advisory services.//
Personnel and business figures as at 31.12.2014
Japan | Fred Martin tests large solar power plants for
TÜV Rheinland in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
A six-month internship financed by the Heinz Nixdorf
Programme was the 36-year-old’s passport to the other
side of the world. Every year, the scholarship allows
between 40 and 50 junior managers from Germany to
spend time in Asia and gain an insight into local working
life. GIZ organises and runs the programme.
‘Faces and stories’ introduces people whose lives have been improved through GIZ’s work.
They are strong individuals who have taken charge of their own future.
Philippines and Germany | Vanessa Preclaro is a Filipino
nurse. In her own country, supply outstrips demand for
nursing staff. On behalf of the German Government,
GIZ and the German Federal Employment Agency helped
her find a permanent job at Frankfurt’s Nordwest Hospital.
Her family in the Philippines now also benefits from her
regular income.
Kenya | Like many of her compatriots in Kenya, Lydia
Kimani relies on expensive firewood for cooking. With GIZ
support she now favours a new low-smoke, fuel-efficient
stove that is better for her health. Financed by the German
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ), and with cofinancing from the Netherlands, Australia,
the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland, about 1.4 mil-
lion new stoves have already been installed in Kenya,
improving the lives of seven million people.
My calling is to help
other people.
I am needed
in Germany.
VANESSA AILEEN PRECLARO,
NURSE
FROM THE PHILIPPINES
Less firewood, better air,
more income – all thanks
to the new stoves!
LYDIA KIMANI,
STOVE INSTALLER
IN KENYA
I see myself
as a bridge-builder
between the nations.
FRED MARTIN,
ENGINEER
IN JAPAN
GIZ Integrated Company Report 2014 K2 1 Faces and stories | Our profile