Meeting the German Development Minister in her garden of yellow roses

At the beginning of the month I was privileged to be part of an extraordinary and inspiring journey. I traveled to Berlin to be part of the launch of the W8 in Germany, with Oxfam International. The W8 is composed of eight outstanding women from all over the world who have dedicated their lives to campaigning for health and education, as well as other social development issues.

We come from the Philippines, Mali, Nicaragua, Thailand, Malawi, Georgia, India and Bangladesh. We come from different countries, cultures, languages and levels of development, but we have bonded very quickly. As women, we know the pain of babies dying from preventable diseases. We also know how it is to be deprived of education.

This trip was on the eve of the G8 meeting in Italy. Instead of going to Italy, we decided to visit Germany and meet the Development Minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, a figure with much greater sympathy and influence on development issues than Mr Berlusconi. Italy has slashed its assistance to developing countries. On the other hand, Germany has repeatedly committed to reaching the 0.7% of GNI commitment in giving aid. Finally, Germany is headed by the only woman member of the G8.

Not all ministers welcome civil society. This was not the case with Minister Wieczorek-Zeul. The W8 were warmly received; the ministry itself is set is a garden of yellow roses, a symbol of friendship. I was impressed with her awareness of social development issues and her commitment to helping developing countries.

The Minister listened carefully to each of us and commented on the problems presented. She also explained the current constraints faced by Germany, especially since its export sector has shrunk considerably. This is something we have felt directly in the Philippines, where German factories that employ our people are closing.

Although all countries are suffering in the current economic crisis, it is the poorest who are being hit the hardest. This is illustrated by the current and widespread fear in the Philippines over swine flu, because people know the government does not have the resources to deal with an epidemic. However in Berlin, and I am sure most other European cities, people are not so worried, they know that their governments will have the resources to provide medicines and care for those that become sick.

The W8 were joined by Die Toten Hosen, one of the most popular rock bands in Germany. The band has helped Oxfam Germany collect over 50,000 signatures from German citizens reminding their government to fulfill their promises of aid. So together we represented the German public and our respective countries.

We also sent our messages to the German public with a big press conference, which was widely covered by multimedia and duly reported on TV, radio, print and interactive networks.

We received a lot of positive feedback. Campino, the lead singer of Die Toten Hosen, said that he was deeply touched and moved by my statement that the impact of the crisis is more destructive and devastating in the poor countries than in the rich ones. Now more than ever we need the rich countries of the world to reach out in friendship and support the poor and vulnerable.

The journey was worth it. The G8 this year may have yielded disappointing results, but we will not give up, not today, not tomorrow, and not while there are still people in the world without access to health and education.

Act now: please join Oxfam's Big Promise, to get the G8 leaders to keep their promises on Health & Education For All.