Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2014

Luxembourg’s development cooperation with the main partner countries is complemented by a regional approach which aims to respond to joint problems faced by several countries, in particular by focusing on synergies and sharing lessons learned and best practice.

2014 was a particularly difficult year for West Africa, with the deterioration of the political and security situation in some countries aggravated further by the ravages of the Ebola pandemic. No single country can tackle these kinds of challenges, which can only be addressed at a regional or international level. Likewise, through the EU-Africa trust fund, Luxembourg’s development cooperation supports the African Union in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). Other support is provided directly to civil society at the regional level, such as the partnership with ENDA Tiers Monde in terms of good governance or with ENDA Santé to combat HIV/AIDS and the Ebola virus. 

In Central America, Luxembourg development cooperation has been active in the field of corporate social responsibility through the regional umbrella organisation INTEGRARSE. Another regional priority for Luxembourg’s development cooperation is the strengthening of financial systems, whether in terms of the good management of fiscal resources through a programme to build the FMI’s capacities (CAPTAC-DR) or in terms of inclusive finance through support for REDCAMIF, the network of national microfinance associations.

Alongside the action plan for the effectiveness of Luxembourg’s development cooperation and the policy of concentration of the related efforts, cooperation with other countries focuses on a very small number of countries. In the Balkans, development cooperation with Montenegro and Serbia has come to its logical conclusion, due to the access of these countries to the resources made available through the EU pre-accession assistance instrument. Therefore, Luxembourg’s future development cooperation will focus on Kosovo. 

The Occupied Palestinian Territories continue to enjoy a special status of quasi-partner country and Luxembourg is continuing its support to local NGOs there, to UNRWA and to the PEGASE mechanism. In Afghanistan, the successful cooperation with the Patrip Foundation is also continuing. Finally, there has been further consolidation of the knowledge acquired through cooperation with Mongolia, based on the recommendations made in an evaluation of the telemedicine programme, as well as research into synergies as part of the banking training programme.