Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2018

2018 was marked by the official visit to Senegal by His Royal Highness the Grand Duke from 21 to 23 January. The Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs Romain Schneider, the Minister for the Environment Carole Dieschbourg and the Secretary of State for the Economy, Francine Closener, were part of the official delegation. The fourth Indicative Cooperation Programme between Senegal and Luxembourg (2018-2022) was formally signed during the visit. ICP IV has an indicative budget of 65 million euros and will drive sectoral concentration in two priority sectors: i) health and social protection and ii) vocational and technical training (VTT) and employability. Young people will therefore remain at the heart of the new commitments. The new programme will also be based on innovation in the vocational training sector, since “business-as-usual” will not address the challenges of matching young people to the needs of the productive sector. 

The ICP IV will also be characterised by the increasing use of the programme approach and support for national implementation (introduced as part of ICP III) in the form of an innovative aid arrangement called “budgeted aid” (transition of LU funds via Senegalese public expenditure, accompanied by a major allocation to capacity-strengthening and risk mitigation). Given this approach of increasing use of national implementation, and in accordance with the Addis Tax Initiative, Luxembourg decided to waive the tax exemption of part of the bilateral activities of the ICP IV. Gender and the environment will be considered as cross-cutting issues. Special attention will also be given to the increased involvement of the private sector and the promotion of civil society.

The new Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Paulette Lenert, decided to make her first diplomatic trip abroad by attending the Senegal consultation group meeting in Paris, a round-table discussion chaired by the President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall, and organised with the support of the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The aim was to mobilise all the partners around the second phase of the Emerging Senegal Plan, Senegal’s socio-economic development programme.