Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2018

The Occupied Palestinian Territories* have a special status similar to Luxembourg’s development cooperation’s partner countries. 

Luxembourg continues to honour the multi-annual partnership agreements concluded in 2017 with Palestinian civil society via four local NGOs: the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) in the agriculture and sustainable development sector, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) in the sector of reproductive health for women, the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) in the transparency and good governance sector, plus an additional NGO, the Teacher Creativity Center (TCC) in the sector of psychosocial support training for teachers in Palestinian schools in East Jerusalem – the support ended in December 2018 but a second phase has been negotiated.

Strict monitoring has been carried out with the four NGOs in order to ensure the continuation and sound implementation of each NGO’s respective project.

In the context of multilateral cooperation, Luxembourg is continuing its support to UNRWA. This UN agency continues to be the main partner in the region, with a total budget of 4 500 000 euros. In 2018, a new agreement was signed in Luxembourg in the presence of the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Pierre Krähenbühl, for a health project in Gaza that amounts to 1 000 000 euros annually. Furthermore, for 2019, a new multiannual agreement will be signed with UNRWA for 4 000 000 euros annually, bringing the annual contribution to the agency to 5 000 000 euros.

* The Occupied Palestinian Territories are to be considered as one of the main partner countries of Luxembourg’s development cooperation as specified in Article 3 of the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 7 August 2012 setting intervention thresholds, the annual financial ceiling, the local non-financial contribution and the audit obligations as part of the co-financing of programmes or projects presented by non-governmental development organisations under the modified law of 6 January 1996 on development cooperation and humanitarian action.