In the GTZ Annual Report 2004 Dr. Bernd Eisenblätter, Chairman of the Board of Management, reiterates the company`s support for the Global Compact (page.6) This means that our company will be attaching even greater importance in its daily work to human rights, core labour standards and environmental protection.
GTZ feels bound to assume responsibilities in the ecological, social , cultural and political spheres. Mentioned in the Annual Report are important areas of our engagement related to the Global Compact, which include health, integrity, preventing corruption and environmental protection.

Concerning our obligation to provide the welfare services for our staff, GTZ introduced its HIV/AIDS workplace policy two years ago (p. 17). All Head Office and field staff are systematically made aware of the risks and consequences of infection and are provided with care and support should they fall ill. Worldwide GTZ assumes the cost of HIV/AIDS-related illness for its staff and their immediate family members if appropriate provision is not in place. Nondiscrimination and confidentiality are imperative in this context.

Especially high priority we attach to integrity and preventing corruption. But integrity cannot be guaranteed either by criminal law statutes or a system of controls, no matter how fine-meshed that system might be. Integrity must be rooted in the self-understanding of our company. We have therefore drawn up our Code of Conduct, based on the corporate values that help define our corporate identity. To help implement these principles GTZ has created the post of “integrity adviser”. As a corporate member of Transparency International we cooperate closely with other members in corruption prevention and control. (p. 17)

Our environmental management in 2004 included a number of outstanding events that also met with great public interest. At the International Conference for Renewable Energies held in Bonn, GTZ presented its new strategy to neutralise CO² emmissions to the public (p. 21).
Having successfully converted 100% of power consumption to renewable sources of energy in 2003, GTZ now plans to offset its remaining CO² emissions by obtaining CO² reduction certificates. Furthermore, GTZ participates in the bike & business campaign run by Germany`s bicycle association, the ADFC. In 2004 a new environmental management system was introduced that is integrated into the European Foundation for Quality and Management (EFQM) model. On of the key innovations of the model is the self-evaluation of environmental issues, performed by the environmental management team using the EFQM criteria. The proportion of recycled paper we use has now been increased to about 95%.