Awareness-raising and development education

The work of awareness-raising and development education, particularly at the national level, also forms part of the challenge of poverty eradication. The aim of these activities is to raise public awareness in Luxembourg of the various themes that relate to the sustainable development of countries and relations between countries, including fair international trade. They also aim to ensure that from an early age members of the public acquire the knowledge and skills needed to understand and engage in critical thinking about the causes and consequences of poverty, and take an active role in the development of fairer and more inclusive societies.

Projects and programmes are guided by the expertise of NGDOs, acquired through experience in the field, as well as by Agenda 2030 and the 17 sustainable development goals, to account for the complexity of the challenges of our society in its social, ecological and economic dimensions. These include inequalities, human rights, gender equality, food sovereignty, the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, climate change, production chains, etc.

National NGDOs therefore play an essential role in the implementation of awareness-raising and development education activities in Luxembourg. In 2022, for example, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation co-financed 8 annual projects and 15 three-year framework agreements with a total budget of EUR 2 846 818.14.

In order to promote increased citizen involvement, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation also promotes joint initiatives and campaigns between NGDOs on specific development themes as well as on sustainable development in general. Within this framework, the MFA allocated an amount of EUR 1 010 679.96 (100% co-financing rate) to two implementing mandates in the field of awareness-raising and development education: the Third World Information Centre (CITIM) and the Rethink your Clothes campaign.

The MFA has continued to provide financing under the Third World Information Centre’s (CITIM) mandate to ASTM, which has since 1982 been providing specialised documentation and education on the countries of the Global South, North-South relations and human development. This documentation is made available to the general public in the form of a library. Since 1 January 2015, the ministry has provided 100% of the funding for CITIM. In addition, in 2022, Fairtrade Letzebuerg a.s.b.l. and Fondation Caritas Luxembourg were mandated to implement the third phase of the Rethink your Clothes campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the social and ecological challenges of the textile industry.

In the area of national awareness-raising and development education policies, the MFA has maintained its representation in the Interdepartmental Committee on Education in Sustainable Development (CIEDD) with a view to defining guidelines for integrating education about sustainable development into all levels of Luxembourg’s education system. The CIEDD seeks to coordinate these efforts with key institutional stakeholders and civil society actors.

The Luxembourg Development Cooperation also represented Luxembourg within the Global Education Network Europe (GENE), with a view to improved mutual learning and networking of the actors involved in development education internationally, across Europe and in Luxembourg. In this context, Luxembourg co-chaired, alongside Ireland, the process of formulating the European Declaration on Global Education to 2050, the strategic European Framework for improving and developing global education in Europe to 2050. The declaration, ratified in November 2022, defines global education as education at formal, non-formal and informal levels, which allows people to critically reflect on the world and their place in it, to open up their hearts and minds to the reality of the world. It enables understanding and action to create a world of social and climate justice, peace, solidarity, equality, sustainability and international understanding. It involves respect for human rights and diversity, inclusion and a decent life for all. The drafting process was carried out in close collaboration with the Ministry of National Education, Children and Youth, to ensure consistency between what is being done in Luxembourg and what we promote and support internationally.