Cabo Verde

In terms of recent bilateral visits, Minister Fayot visited the country from 14 to 19 February 2020. This was his first working visit to a Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation partner country in his capacity as Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs. He was accompanied by Carole Dieschbourg, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, and by Claude Turmes, Minister for Energy and Spatial Planning. The visit’s main aim was to strengthen bilateral discussions concerning the methods for implementing the new ‘country approach’. This approach seeks, primarily, to provide better coherence between Luxembourg’s public policies and increased synergy between the actions of Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation and other policy areas, in particular the fight against the adverse effects of climate change, and the energy transition. This aim was reflected in the signing of a new indicative cooperation programme (ICP) entitled ‘Development – Climate – Energy’, covering the 2021-2025 period, at the 20th partnership committee meeting between Luxembourg and Cabo Verde. This was held on 8 July 2020 by video-conference. Structured around five pillars of intervention – Employment and Employability, Water and Sanitation, Climate Action, Energy Transition and Local Development – this is the first time that a cooperation programme between Luxembourg and a partner country has combined development cooperation actions with actions linked to the climate and energy transition. The latter will be financed both by the Cooperation Development Fund and the Climate and Energy Fund, with a total indicative budget of EUR 78 million.

In 2020, there were three Luxembourgish NGOs working in Cabo Verde, funded by the MFA: Beetebuerg Hëlleft (primary education), ECPAT Luxembourg (gender-based violence) and OGBL Solidarité Syndicale (trade union training).