Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2012

2012 was a very difficult year for Mali, which underwent a coup on 22 March 2012 that led to the occupation of the north by Tuareg rebels from the MNLA and terrorist groups including AQIM and Mujao. Beyond Mali, insecurity throughout the Sahel has deteriorated significantly. In addition to the political and security crises, the Sahel has been hit by a food crisis in the wake of the drought of 2011/12. The displacement of large numbers of Malian refugees, from the north of the country to the south as well as to neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger, has compounded the situation further.

The elaboration of a new ICP with Mali had to be suspended as a result of the coup and the resultant absence of a legitimate elected government. In spite of the difficulties, Luxembourg nevertheless continued to provide direct support to the population in southern Mali, particularly in the district of Bamako, the Ségou region and the Yorosso Circle. The continuation, on a technical level, of health, water and sanitation, food safety, vocational training and employment, and decentralisation projects, ensured that basic services continued to be guaranteed to the population during a time of crisis.

The fact that the projects and programmes were largely implemented through local authorities meant that the gains made prior to the coup were mostly safeguarded, which will facilitate the gradual resumption of cooperation with the Malian authorities. Traditionally present in the northern Kidal region for over a decade, Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation had to suspend its activities there pending the return of acceptable security conditions.

Although 2012 was supposed to mark the renewal of Luxembourg’s bilateral projects and programmes with Burkina Faso and Niger, both countries’ Indicative Cooperation Programmes for 2008-2012 had accumulated a certain number of delays for various reasons - an interruption during the political crisis in Niger and a difficult transition to the programme approach in Burkina Faso - which were raised in the mid-term reviews. During the 2012 Partnership Commissions for Burkina Faso and Niger, it was therefore decided to prolong both of these ICPs until the end of 2015 - a crucial year for development cooperation with both countries - through an additional budgetary endowment.

Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation intends to align itself to a greater extent with both countries’ national development strategies, particularly the Programme for Economic and Social Development 2012-2015 (PDES) in Niger and the Strategy for Accelerated Growth and Development 2011-2015 (SCADD) in Burkina Faso. Another flagship initiative of the new government in Niger is the 3N Initiative (“Nigeriens Nourish Nigeriens”), which focuses on increasing agricultural production and tackling recurrent food insecurity. Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation, which had intended to start a rural development programme in the Dosso region, therefore realigned its activities in support of the 3N Initiative.