Former Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz and former President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, today in Berlin announced the members of the new South-North Commission on Development. The Commission is co-chaired by Scholz and Chinchilla and brings together some of the most important and influential figures in the world, all with unique expertise on key questions of international cooperation.
Co-Chair Olaf Scholz commented, “It was clear to me from the outset that the South-North Commission’s influence would derive crucially from the standing and influence of its members. Today we are presenting a Commission that is quite unique. It comprises leaders of international organisations and figures from all areas of society; they will be contribu-ting their outstanding expertise on key questions relating to international cooperation. What they have to say on international cooperation cannot and will not be ignored. The Commission’s task is to come up with joint proposals on securing a good future for our world – across borders and political and social divides. It is not about finding the lowest common denominator. It is about bold, inspirational, actionable solutions.”
Co-Chair Laura Chinchilla remarked, “It is the societies of the Global South that will shape our 21st century. They share a vision of what fairer international relations should look like and what that could mean for international development. Our Commission is in a unique position to bring these visions together. At the heart of this Commission is a clear conviction: global cooperation must deliver for the people. We need partnership not conflict between South and North, grounded in joint values, social justice and peaceful coexistence. And we want to rebuild trust in the international system by showing that multilateral decisions can improve lives in concrete ways.”
The South-North Commission on Development aims to put forward recommendations on how to reshape development cooperation between the Global North and Global South in a multipolar world. That will include proposals on new forms of partnership, contributions to the post-2030 Agenda and ideas for the future of German development policy.
The Commission was launched by Germany’s Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali Radovan, at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC) on 30 June 2026.
Among the Commission members announced today are heads of international organisations, former heads of government, former government ministers and also representatives of business, trade unions, science and academia, and civil society.
The representatives of the Global South and Global North will work together on formulating the Commission’s agenda and focuses, for which the co-chairs will take overall responsibility. The Commission will meet in different regions of the world and hold regional and global consultations, for example on the margins of international
conferences. It will be supported by networks, think tanks and research institutions from the South and the North. A German Consultative Body will be established (representatives of government ministries, parliament, private sector, civil society, trade unions, political foundations, youth) and also an international expert body.
The South-North Commission will hold its first meeting on 16 and 17 October in Bangkok on the margins of the World Bank Annual Meeting, where it will identify its focuses and set out its programme of work. The Commission plans to publish an interim document in mid-2027 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Brandt Commission. Its final report will then be published at the end of 2028.
Press enquiries:
By e-mail: ensk@bmz.bund.de
Dr Henrik Maihack, Head of the Secretariat of the South-North Commission; Tel.: +49 30 18 535 2134
Reinhard Palm, Secretariat of the South-North Commission; Tel.: +49 30 18 535 2260
Members of the South-North Commission on Development (SNCD)
Co-Chairs: Laura Chinchilla (former President of Costa Rica) and Olaf Scholz (former Chancellor of Germany)
| Name | Surname | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajay | Banga | President World Bank |
| 2 | Kaushik | Basu | Co-chair of the UN High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on “Beyond GDP” and Professor at Cornell University |
| 3 | Daniel | Bertossa | Secretary General Public Services International Global Union |
| 4 | Alexander | De Croo | Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (as a participant in an official and consultative capacity) |
| 5 | Comfort | Ero | President and CEO International Crisis Group |
| 6 | Altagracia | Gómez Sierra | Chair of the board of Promotora Empresarial de Occidente, Coordinator of the Advisory Council for Regional Economic Development and Corporate Relocation for the Mexican Presidency |
| 7 | Arancha | González Laya | Dean Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Co-chair of the Future of Development Cooperation Coalition (FDCC) and former Foreign Minister of Spain |
| 8 | Mark | Green | President and CEO ONE and former USAID Administrator |
| 9 | Hermann | Gröhe | President German Red Cross (DRK) and former Health Minister of Germany |
| 10 | Sri Mulyani | Indrawati | Independent Co-chair for the 22nd replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA22) and former Finance Minister of Indonesia |
| 11 | Phumzile | Mlambo-Ngcuka | Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, former Vice President of South Africa, former UN Under-Secretary-General and former Executive Director of UN Women |
| 12 | Elsy | Milan | Researcher at the Center for Environmental Policy (CEP) at Imperial College London, negotiator at COP 30 for Lebanon |
| 13 | Denis | Mukwege | Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, gynaecologist, human rights advocate and Co-president of the Global Survivors Fund (GSF) |
| 14 | James | Mwangi | Group Managing Director and CEO, Equity Group Holdings Plc. and Executive Chairman Equity Group Foundation |
| 15 | Ngozi | Okonjo-Iweala | Director-General World Trade Organisation (WTO) |
| 16 | Omar | Paganini Herrera | Former Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining and former Foreign Minister of Uruguay |
| 17 | Izabella | Teixeira | Co-chair of the UN International Resource Panel (IRP/UNEP), member of the High-Level Advisory Board (HLAB) of UN-DESA, and former Environment Minister of Brazil |
| 18 | Aminata | Touré | Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Senegal |
| 19 | Xue | Lan | Cheung Kong Distinguished Chair Professor and the Dean of Schwarzman College Tsinghua University, Co-chair of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solution Network (UNSDSN) and member of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) |
| 20 | Nudhara | Yusuf | Co-chair of the civil society coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN) and former executive coordinator of the Global Governance Innovation Network at the Stimson Center |