23 Facts About Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul was born on 21 November 1942 and is a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1965.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul is a prominent figure of the Social Democrats' left wing and is often called "Red Heidi".

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul was elected Member of the European Parliament in the 1979 European elections, the first European elections to be held and the first international election in history.

Between 1979 and 1984, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul served as vice-chairwoman of the Committee on External Economic Relations.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul first became a member of the Bundestag in the 1987 West German elections, where she joined the Committee on European Affairs.

From 1993 to 2005, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul served as deputy chairwoman of the SPD, under the leadership of successive chairmen Rudolf Scharping, Oskar Lafontaine, Gerhard Schroder and Franz Muntefering.

From 2009 to 2013, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul served on the Bundestag's Committee on Foreign Affairs and as spokesperson of the SPD parliamentary group on the Subcommittee on the United Nations, International Organizations and Globalization.

When Gerhard Schroder became Chancellor following the 1998 elections, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul was appointed Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul participated in the preparations for the 25th G8 summit in 1999 and the 33rd G8 summit in 2007, both of which were hosted by Germany.

In February 2003, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul was one out of three cabinet members taking part in a march against the Iraq War in Berlin.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul ruled out paying special compensation, but promised continued economic aid for Namibia.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul kept her office after Schroder's defeat in the 2005 elections and served in the first government Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005 until 2009.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul initiated the EU's target of increasing its official development assistance from 0.51 percent by 2010 to 0.7 percent of the GDP by 2015.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul visited Kenya's sprawling slum at Mathare 4A, Kasarani District and virtually pitied Mathare 4A primary school, which had been invaded and harassed by squatters.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul served on the Executive Board of the Socialist International.

Amid a 2007 leadership crisis at the Bank, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul was a leading figure in the downfall of Paul Wolfowitz as president of the organization.

Alongside Chancellor Merkel, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul co-hosted the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria replenishment conference in Berlin in September 2007.

In 2008, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul served as Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the International Conference on Financing for Development in Doha, Qatar.

Also between 2008 and 2009, Wieczorek-Zeul served as member of the Commission of Experts of the President of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, which was chaired by author and Nobel Laureate economist Joseph E Stiglitz.

Since leaving politics, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul has been involved in a number of philanthropic activities, including the following:.

In March 2009, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul criticized statements made by Pope Benedict XVI which claimed that condoms promote AIDS.

In September 2009, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul announced the German government's pledge of an additional $130 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative for 2009 to 2013.

In May 2008, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul was the only minister of Chancellor Merkel's government who agreed to meet with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, during a five-day visit to Germany.