Reem Alabali-Radovan
Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development
Born in Moscow in 1990 and raised in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, she studied political science in Berlin, worked on the Near and Middle East, and built a career in integration policy in Schwerin. Since 2021 she has sat in the Bundestag; she served as the Federal Government's Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration and its first Commissioner for Anti-Racism. On 6 May 2025 she became Germany's Development Minister.
- 1990Moscow
- 2008Schwerin · Abitur
- 2013Political science, B.A.
- 2020Integration Commissioner, MV
- 2021Bundestag
- 2021Federal Government
- 2025Development Minister
A career built around connection
Each stage below is documented in her official Bundestag and Federal Government biographies. Read together, they show a sequence: from the study of international affairs, to the practical work of integration in one German state, to responsibility for Germany's partnerships with the rest of the world.
- 1990Moscow
Born on 1 May 1990. Her own website says her family, fleeing political conditions in Iraq, brought her to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at the age of six.
- –2008Schwerin
Abitur at the Gymnasium Fridericianum. Schwerin remains her home city and political base.
- 2008–2014Berlin
Political science at Freie Universität Berlin (B.A.), then the German Orient Institute and the Near and Middle East Association (NUMOV).
- 2015–2021Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
State administration, then head of the integration commissioner's office (2018) and state Integration Commissioner (2020–2021).
- 2021Bundestag
Won the Schwerin – Ludwigslust-Parchim I – Nordwestmecklenburg I constituency for the SPD; re-elected via the state list in 2025.
- 2021–2025Federal Government
Minister of State for Migration, Refugees and Integration; from 2022 also the first Federal Commissioner for Anti-Racism.
- 2025–International development
Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development since 6 May 2025.
Straight-line distances, rounded. Partner-country count: BMZ, reform strategy page (accessed October 2026).
Migration changes societies
From December 2021 to May 2025, Alabali-Radovan was Minister of State at the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration. The office does not make laws itself. It advises the government, reports to the Bundestag, and represents the concerns of people with a migration history across ministries.
- 01Integration reportHer office presented the 14th report on integration, Teilhabe in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft, in December 2024: 60 indicators across 14 areas, with an online dashboard.
- 02CitizenshipThe government's modernised citizenship law came into force on 27 June 2024. It shortened the residence requirement to five years and generally allowed dual citizenship. This was a coalition reform led by the Interior Ministry, and the commissioner supported it publicly.
- 03Residence prospectsThe Chancen-Aufenthaltsrecht (opportunity residence right) for long-tolerated people took effect on 31 December 2022, as government legislation.
- 04ParticipationLanguage, education, employment and local integration services are the core of the commissioner's reporting brief.
- 05Social cohesion“Integration gelingt millionenfach jeden Tag” (integration succeeds millions of times every day), she said on presenting the 2024 report. That position was contested in a polarised migration debate.
Against racism, for participation
In February 2022 the cabinet appointed her the Federal Government's first Commissioner for Anti-Racism. Her first situation report, Rassismus in Deutschland (January 2023), cited survey findings: 90 per cent of people in Germany say racism exists, and 22 per cent report having experienced it themselves.
Institutions
She described the focus as discrimination that operates through structures in education, work, health and housing, and not only through individual attitudes.
Expert council
In June 2023 she convened a twelve-member expert council. In March 2025 it presented a working definition of racism for use in public administration.
Democratic resilience
The report placed racism prevention alongside the lessons of the NSU murders and the Halle and Hanau attacks.
Gemeinsam müssen wir Strukturen aufbrechen, damit Herkunft kein Schicksal ist.“Together we must break up structures so that origin is not destiny.” (translation)
Development is partnership
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) was founded in 1961. It has seats in Bonn and Berlin and works through implementing organisations such as GIZ and KfW Development Bank. It finances cooperation with 65 partner countries and with multilateral institutions. Alabali-Radovan has led it since May 2025, a period of falling budgets and global aid cuts.
In January 2026 she presented a reform plan, Zukunft zusammen global gestalten (“Shaping the future together, globally”). The ministry says it makes German development policy “strategischer, fokussierter und partnerschaftlicher” (more strategic, focused and partnership-based). The plan prioritises food security, crisis support, economic cooperation and multilateral structures. It finances emerging economies increasingly through repayable loans and concentrates grants on the least developed countries.
Critics, including Brot für die Welt and the parliamentary opposition, argue that the reform is shaped by budget cuts and by German economic interests. Both views are set out on the criticism page.
The current global agenda
Development policy in practice in 2026: conferences, delegations and budget debates. Each item records what was announced. An announcement is not the same as money disbursed or a project completed.
- 12 January 2026 · Berlin
BMZ reform plan
She presented a restructuring of German development policy, with 65 partner countries and nine new focus countries for closer cooperation with German business.
Source: BMZ - 31 March 2026 · Jordan
Middle East package
€177 million was announced for Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and a Red Sea desalination project, against the background of the regional war.
Source: BMZ - 20 May 2026 · Bundestag
Sudan debate
She spoke in the Bundestag debate on Sudan, which the UN considers the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with about 33.7 million people in need in 2026.
Source: Bundestag - 25 June 2026 · Gdańsk
Ukraine Recovery Conference
She joined Chancellor Merz in Gdańsk. Germany presented a European Flagship Fund to mobilise private capital, with a first public package of up to €220 million, alongside a skills alliance and energy support.
Source: Federal Government - 17–20 August 2026 · Indonesia
Business delegation
She travelled with a business delegation. The focus was renewable energy, power grids and a socially just energy transition under the Just Energy Transition Partnership.
Source: BMZ - 9 September 2026 · Bundestag
Budget 2027, first reading
She defended a €9.47 billion development budget, the latest in a series of reductions since 2023. The Greens, the Left, the AfD and NGOs criticised it, each for different reasons.
Source: Bundestag