Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2015

Since 2015, Luxembourg’s development cooperation in the Balkans has been focusing on Kosovo, in line with the a general cooperation agreement for collaboration for the 2013 to 2016 period signed in April 2013. The same sectors will continue to be the focus: health, education/vocational training and water and sanitation. A major bilateral programme implemented by Lux-Development is under way in each of these sectors. In the field of health, bilateral activity is being strengthened by a joint UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO project which focuses on the health of mothers and newborns.

Through collaboration with a local NGO, Fondation Kosovo-Luxembourg, the Luxemburgish NGO Caritas is continuing to implement projects in social policy and community development. 

After a long delay, the results of the agricultural census, co-funded by Luxembourg’s development cooperation (via UNOPS) and other European donors, were finally published in December 2015. 

In September 2015, the Financial Technology Transfer Agency (ATTF), now part of the House of Training, visited Kosovo to identify with the local authorities the areas in which ATTF could supply technical assistance and training.

Kosovo continues to be shaken by recurrent political crises. Thus fundamental differences between the government and the opposition over the normalisation agreement signed between Pristina and Belgrade in August 2015 led the opposition to stop the parliament from working for over 5 months. 

On 30 November 2015, in Luxembourg, the third mixed committee meeting was held between Luxembourg and Kosovo, during which all the projects were reviewed. In addition, this event enabled some consideration to be given to a potential new general cooperation agreement for the 2017-2020 period.