National Action Plan on Homelessness (DE0051)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? The Federal Government intends to eliminate homelessness and rough sleeping in Germany by 2030. This objective presents a very complex challenge and can only be achieved if all the bodies responsible work together and cooperate: federal, Land and local authorities, civil-society players such as associations of affected parties, the academic community, foundations and the property sector.

What is the commitment? The Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building will draw up a National Action Plan (NAP) to tackle homelessness. Once it has been adopted by the Federal Govern- ment, its implementation phase will include the creation of a national homelessness forum bringing together all stakeholders. The aim is that the forum will derive yearly programmes with individual measures from the homelessness NAP, which it will jointly put into practice.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The homelessness NAP is being drawn up in a multi-stakeholder and participatory process (with various bodies involved and specialist events such as a National Conference on the Future on 19 and 20 June 2023). This will make it possible, for the first time, to gather and draw on as many perspectives as possible for the identification and implementation of measures to tackle homelessness, thanks to ongoing participation.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The opportunities for participation and involvement in the drafting and implementation will make the government’s activities more transparent and easier to follow. The national homelessness forum will stand as an example of a form of cooperation between federal, Land and local authorities and civil-society players that transcends levels of government and sectors.

Milestone activity with a verifiable deliverable | Start date - Implementation by

NAP Conference | 19–20 June 2023

Civil-society and associations consultation on key points of the NAP | Expected August 2023 - September 2023

Interministerial consultation and adoption of the homelessness NAP | Expected September 2023 - November 2023

Establishment of a national homelessness forum | Expected 1st quarter of 2024 - 2nd quarter of 2024

Action Plan Review

Commitment 8. National Action Plan and Forum Homelessness

Commitments 6, 7, and 8 involve developing dialogue forums on sustainable agricultural policy (Commitment 6), opportunities for children (Commitment 7), and homelessness (Commitment 8). For agricultural policy, the responsible ministry has been working with practitioners since 2017 and now aims to evaluate and refine their approach into a blueprint for institutionalized participation. Members of the Open Government Network highlighted the approach as noteworthy for its wide-ranging participation with more than 50 members and the involvement of two ministries. However, the IRM has not assessed this commitment as promising as the network was already established before the action plan. The evaluation and guidelines are good stand-alone initiatives but could be combined with an evaluation of other participation forums such as those included in the action plan. Commitment 7 and 8 deal with the development and implementation of national action plans in their respective fields and feature the participation of underrepresented groups in policymaking. Commitment 8 involves creating a national homelessness forum to guide the implementation of the national action plan, composed of representatives from the federal, state, and communal administration, and civil society organizations. Although the details of the forum are still being determined, it could enable an effective dialogue between different levels of government and civil society. In addition to these stand-alone measures, the IRM recommends the federal government evaluate the benefits and challenges of these diverse participatory forums and develop central guidelines for participation which specify to what end they can be used, barriers (especially for institutionalized participation), and integration of the recommendations in policymaking.