VIII. Programme support 

Programme support 

Programme support relates to operations linked to the deployment of human resources to provide cooperation. It includes the following aspects:

  • Cooperation officials, aid workers, assimilated aid workers, religious workers
  • Development cooperation leave
  • Junior Professional Officers (or JPOs) at the United Nations
  • Junior Professionals in Delegation (JPDs) in the delegations of the European Commission and the European External Action Service 
  • United Nations Volunteers (UNVs)
  • Junior Technical Assistants (JTAs)
  • Voluntary Cooperation Service (VCS)
  • Trainees at the Directorate for Development Cooperation or at ENDA-Tiers Monde

In 2015, the various operations in this sphere were given funding of 3 425 524 €, of which 3 360 495 € was taken from the Development Cooperation Fund and 65 029 € was from budget item 01.7.32.020 for the reimbursement of development cooperation leave.

Cooperation officials, aid workers, assimilated aid workers and trainees

The various operators working in the sphere of Luxembourg’s development cooperation include cooperation officials, who work for a maximum of four years either in a cooperation office located in the partner countries or at the Directorate for Development Cooperation.

Aid workers and assimilated aid workers are sent by the development NGOs authorised by the Ministry to the developing countries where their activities take place. 

Development cooperation leave

The purpose of development cooperation leave is to allow members of authorised non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to participate in development programmes and projects in order to assist the populations of developing countries, on missions both in Luxembourg and abroad.

Junior Professional Officers (JPOs) at the United Nations agencies

On the basis of a general agreement between Luxembourg and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), young graduates with Luxembourg nationality or residence have the opportunity to specialise in development cooperation and to acquire substantial experience from the multilateral activities of UNDP and other UN agencies. Luxembourg provides full financing to its JPOs for a period of up to three years, with an extension to a fourth or fifth year if co-financed by the UN agency. This process has in the past allowed a number of JPOs to become permanent employees of UN bodies.

Junior Professionals in Delegation (JPDs) in the European Commission’s delegations

This programme allows young graduates who are Luxembourg nationals or residents to be trained in various European Union development cooperation activities by being attached for an eighteen-month period to the European Commission’s delegations and the European External Action Service.

United Nations Volunteers (UNVs)

Luxembourg is one of the main donors to the ‘United Nations Volunteers’ (UNVs) programme, financing volunteers from countries in the South as part of South-South cooperation. The destination and origin of the volunteers are in Luxembourg’s development cooperation’s partner countries.

Since 2015, the option has been in place to take on Luxembourg residents below the age of 29 to participate in this programme as “Youth Volunteers.” 

Junior Technical Assistants (JTAs)

In partnership with Lux-Development, young Luxembourg nationals or residents are offered paid traineeships which enable them to obtain their first experience on the ground, covering the various aspects of development cooperation. JTAs are posted to cooperation projects abroad, where they are managed by Lux-Development employees acting as mentors. This training may be extended for a second year.

The Voluntary Cooperation Service (VCS)

This programme, mainly run by the National Service and the Cercle of NGOs, offers young people an opportunity to volunteer with a partner in a developing country. 

Trainees at the Directorate for Development Cooperation or at ENDA

Traineeships are offered to students wishing to deepen the knowledge they have already acquired in the development cooperation sphere either at the Directorate for Development Cooperation, on the ground in Dakar (Senegal), under an agreement concluded between the Ministry and ENDA Tiers Monde, the international NGO, or, by way of exception, duly evaluated, for very specific projects as part of ongoing higher education or personal commitments for which documentation is provided.

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