Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2015

2015 was a pivotal year for development at the international level and even more so at the European level, since the EU and its Member States remain the major global donors of official development assistance (ODA) and, by virtue of this, 2015 had been designated as the European Year for Development with the motto “Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future.”

Prior to the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU, Luxembourg was strongly represented at the beginning of June at the European Development Days, an annual event for the global development community held in Brussels. 

During the Luxembourg Presidency, major conferences were held to shape the EU’s development policy for the next fifteen years. At the third Conference on Financing for Development, held in Addis Ababa in July 2015, the Luxembourg Presidency contributed to the adoption of a diverse, innovative package of financial and non-financial resources for development a package which maintains ODA as an indispensable catalyst.

At the New York Summit at the end of September, an ambitious universal agenda was adopted: seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, the successors to the Millennium Development Goals, integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development in line with the conclusions of the Rio +20 conference.

The migration crisis has also had an impact on development cooperation, which is part of the global response to the challenges and opportunities created by these migration flows. The Luxembourg Presidency participated in creating the EU Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa. Luxembourg co-signed the agreement establishing the Fund at the Valletta Summit in November and as far as possible directed its contribution to the West Africa region in order to make it complement its bilateral cooperation. An additional contribution from Luxembourg’s development cooperation was directed to the regional development and protection programme (RDPP) in the Horn of Africa.

The Luxembourg Presidency has also contributed to the practical application of the concept of policy coherence for development (PCD); the aim of PCD is to minimise inconsistencies resulting from the different European policies which have negative repercussions on developing countries. In particular, the Luxembourg Presidency organised joint meetings involving the Minister of Development Cooperation and the Energy, Justice and Home Affairs (Migration) Committees and a formal exchange between the Development and Environment Committees (Agenda 2030). At the expert level, joint meetings were organised between various strands (security, trade, culture and humanitarian action).

The Luxembourg Presidency also initiated discussions and exchanges on the future (post-Cotonou) relations between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries by organising several events in Brussels and Luxembourg as well as thematic debates in the Council which led to a discussion paper. Political debates on the issue were held in the Foreign Affairs and Development Councils. The EU-ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly was also held during the six months of the Luxembourg Presidency.

Gender equality was one of the priority subjects during the Luxembourg Presidency. The new EU action plan on gender equality and women’s empowerment in external relations was adopted on 26 October 2015 by the Foreign Affairs Council on Development.

The Luxembourg Presidency prepared some of the Council’s conclusions on the gender action plan in external relations, the annual report on the EU’s external assistance, the biannual report of policy coherence for development, the legacy of the European Year for Development, the EU’s priorities for the 14th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the ACP Investment Facility. 

In the field of humanitarian action, the Luxembourg Presidency took an initial position with a view to the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 in Istanbul by consensually adopting a set of Council conclusions. Furthermore, following a joint workshop organised in July in Luxembourg, discussions between the humanitarian actors and civil protection services led to a list of concrete actions to be monitored. Finally, the Presidency organised three meetings on the issue of protection in humanitarian action and led the debate on the statement to be made to the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.