In 2005, Germany spent US$ 9.915 billion on official development assistance (ODA), which corresponds to 0.35% of its gross national income (GNI). 72% was channelled to recipients by bilateral means while 28% was multilateral.

• Democracy, Civil Society and Public Administration
• Peace-building and Crisis Prevention
• Education
• Health, Family Planning, HIV/AIDS
• Water, Water/Waste Management
• Food Security, Agriculture and Fisheries
• Environmental Policy, Sustainable Development
• Sustainable Economic Development
• Energy, Renewable Resources
• Transport and Communication

NGOs can apply for financial support under the following funding programmes:

Small Scale Embassy Projects: This programme is especially targeted at local organisations and self-help initiatives working at the grassroots level.

Small-scale projects for NGOs: This instrument supports small development projects of private German organisations through non-repayable grants.

Large-scale projects for NGOs: This instrument supports large-scale development projects of private German organisations through non-repayable grants.

Transportation Costs: This instrument funds transport costs of projects focused on forwarding donated equipment or material to developing countries.