Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2018

A new general strategy for Luxembourg’s development cooperation was drawn up over the course of 2018. It was adopted in the government council on 6 September 2018 and can be downloaded on the Luxembourg development cooperation website. The strategy reaffirms Luxembourg’s main objective in terms of development cooperation and humanitarian action, i.e. the reduction and long-term eradication of poverty via supporting sustainable development on the economic, social and environmental fronts.

The new general strategy, which replaces the general strategy of 2012, was drawn up following a wide-ranging participatory process involving Luxembourg’s development cooperation’s main actors and partners. The strategy is, firstly, a response to the many developments on the international stage in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian affairs, such as, in particular, the United Nations Agenda 2030 “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for financing for development and the “Grand Bargain” concluded between humanitarian actors. Secondly, applying an approach of consistency, effectiveness and enhanced impact, the strategy aims to consolidate in a single document the traditional intervention vectors of Luxembourg’s development cooperation while integrating new fields of action and innovative tools which Luxembourg can use to provide added value.

The strategy includes the “3D” approach (diplomacy, defence and development) of Luxembourg’s foreign policy, which will be applied flexibly, especially in so-called “fragile” development contexts. It takes into account Luxembourg’s continued commitment to multilateralism and is part of the European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and its development cooperation policies, strategies and tools.

Aligned with Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), as well as on the principle of “leaving no one behind”, the new strategy is based on four interconnected priority issues:

i) improving access to high-quality basic social services;

ii) enhancing the socio-economic integration of women and young people;

iii) promoting sustainable, inclusive growth, and

iv) promoting inclusive governance.

Each of these priority issues will also take into account the systematic integration of the three following cross-cutting issues: respect for human rights, equality and fairness between the genders, as well as environmental sustainability.

Luxembourg will give more emphasis, alongside its traditional fields of action, to the areas in which it has demonstrated a relative advantage. In addition to information and communication technologies (ICT) and data management, these include the intensification of efforts to establish mechanisms that enable the mobilisation of innovative, sustainable financing through the enhanced use of the expertise of the Luxembourg financial centre, especially in terms of inclusive finance, financial technology (fintech), green finance and investments that are responsible and have a social impact.

The strengthening of capacities and the promotion of multiple actor partnerships for sustainable development (SDG 17), including by way of promoting South-South and triangular partnerships, are at the heart of the new general strategy. In order to increase the impact and reach of its action, especially for the most vulnerable populations, Luxembourg will actively develop and facilitate innovative partnerships by bringing together its partner countries, international and multilateral organisations, civil society, academia and also, increasingly, the private sector and philanthropic foundations. Luxembourg’s development cooperation is strongly biased towards a multilateral approach to maximise synergies between partners, approaches and tools in order to contribute, by 2030, to the emergence of a sustainable world where no one is left behind.

The strategy is based on maximising impact and recommends enhancing the approach of concentration applied by Luxembourg’s development cooperation, both in terms of: i) priority targeting of the most vulnerable populations, especially women, young girls, children and young people in general, and ii) geographical targeting, by prioritising a limited number of partner countries, in particular the least developed countries, including those in West Africa and the Sahel region that currently make up five of the seven priority partners of Luxembourg’s development cooperation.

Luxembourg will continue to apply the principles of development effectiveness, especially in terms of the predictability of the volumes of official development assistance (ODA), the non-binding nature of its ODA, delivered entirely in the form of donations, and the additionality of public expenditure for international climate financing and hosting refugees in Luxembourg.

The new strategy is strongly biased towards an enhanced effort to make development policies consistent with each other (PCD - policy coherence for development) in order to understand better the potential impact of Luxembourg’s public policy on developing countries. The strategy will be the cornerstone of the new national sustainable development plan (Plan national pour un développement durable - PNDD) with respect to its international aspect. 

Finally, the strategy recommends the more dynamic use of communication for development cooperation, especially with regard to results and impact, as well as the enhancement of awareness-raising activities and education in the national and international dimensions of sustainable development, mainly carried out by non-governmental organisations in Luxembourg.