IX. Development education and awareness raising

Ministers Asselborn and Schneider at the “Portes ouvertes” open day

“Citizens Rallye” 2016

Communication

In 2016, Luxembourg’s development cooperation ran various communication activities. Notable among them were the support given to the Global Education Network, a network of Member States active in development education and support for the publication of the book “Together We Stand”, which was unveiled at the World Humanitarian Summit. The book is a collection of innovative projects in the humanitarian field.

Luxembourg’s development cooperation once again participated in the Citizens Rallye organised by the Conférence Générale de la Jeunesse du Luxembourg (CGJL), involving almost 500 young people, who were informed about the Sustainable Development Goals. Over a period of several weeks, the young people met at the premises of Luxembourg’s development cooperation to play educational games before moving on to another organisation participating in the initiative. The aim was to give the young people an overview of the SDGs. In terms of events open to the general public, the Development Cooperation Directorate took part in the “Fête de l’Europe” festival and the “Portes ouvertes” open day on 24 September.

Luxembourg’s development cooperation participated in creating and establishing the MFEA’s Communication and Information Unit and has maintained a regular presence on social media in order to share news.

Concerning publications, 2016 was the first year during which the annual report was not printed; the French and English versions are available online. Luxembourg’s development cooperation also updated the information leaflet on its activities, in French and English, as well as the promotional material which aims to encourage the general public to consult the website.

Brochures on bilateral cooperation were updated and two issues of “News!”, Luxembourg’s development cooperation newsletter, were produced. The systematic production of press releases (often coupled with a tweet on the MFEA’s account) and the updating of the website also increased the transparency of the Ministry’s development cooperation activities.

Awareness-raising and development education 

In 2016, the 13 framework agreements concluded in 2015 for a period of 3 years and 11 new annual projects introduced at the start of the year received co-financing from the Ministry. During the year, because of the available financing, the Ministry launched a second call for proposals aimed at development NGOs interested in submitting a consortium project. In total, 1 790 266 euros were disbursed on framework agreements and awareness-raising projects in 2016. Luxembourg’s development cooperation also continued its mandated financing of the Centre d’Informations Tiers Monde (CITIM), which stocks specialised documentation on the southern hemisphere, North-South relations, international development cooperation, climate change and sustainable development.

The Directorate took part in the meeting of the European Commission’s development education and awareness-raising working group (DEAR task-team) and in the Global Education Network Europe’s (GENE) round table discussions.