IDOS Engages at Germany’s Jobfair for International Cooperation

Experts and volunteers actively explore how personnel cooperation drives sustainable global development at Engagement Weltweit.

Germany’s only job fair dedicated to international personnel cooperation takes place annually in Siegburg. It is the ideal place for exchange and networking in development and international cooperation. This year as well, IDOS participated at the Engagement Weltweit with an information booth and contributions to panel discussions. This year’s fair was held under the guiding theme: “Global Engagement: Solidarity and Transformation in Challenging Times.”

Ahead, the organiser AKLHÜ hosted a policy dialogue for all participating organisations and wider expert community to discuss how through personnel cooperation, development professionals and volunteers can advance sustainable cooperation and transformation. IDOS Director Prof. Anna-Katharina Hornidge was invited to join Parliamentary State Secretary Dr Bärbel Kofler, Prof. Aram Ziai, Head of Section Development and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Kassel, Aileen Puhlmann, Director at Lemonaid & ChariTea, Ali Al-Nasani Director of EIRENE, and Claudio Jax, Director of Freiwilligendienste weltweit, in discussing how to leverage the potential of personnel cooperation and shape the transformation needed for addressing shared global challenges.

Anna-Katharina Hornidge contributed to the reflections on current tendencies of securitising development, here particularly focusing on BMZ’s role in the National Security Council of Germany. With regard to COP30 in Belèm and the G20 Summit starting the next day in Johannesburg, she shared her observations of vibrant multi- and plurilateralism in action, with large economies from the South – Brazil and South Africa – embracing global responsibility, illustrating global leadership – for the protection of global public goods, addressing questions of global debt and social justice more broadly.

At the day of the fair itself, the Postgraduate Programme for Sustainability Cooperation (PGP) at IDOS presented its work. The PGP team, current participants and alumni, as well as IDOS staff members were delighted by the strong interest shown by visitors. They shared their experiences regarding qualification and career opportunities in international cooperation. Many visitors were also interested in the exchange and dialogue formats MGG Academy and Shaping Futures Academy, as well as in career paths at IDOS, such as pursuing a PhD.

Dr Simone Christ, Head of the PGP, also contributed to the supporting programme. In the panel discussion on “Qualifications and key competencies for the future of international cooperation,” she joined other experts in discussing the skills young professionals need in order to work successfully in the field of international cooperation.