Introduction
The opening of an embassy in San José in September 2023 will make it possible, among other things, to follow up on the interventions by Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation in Central America.
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In view of the close political and strategic alignment in development cooperation between Luxembourg and Costa Rica, Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation has decided to complement its regional efforts with bilateral activities in Costa Rica. Those activities will be in the regional strategy’s priority areas.
A memorandum of understanding formalising the intention of the two countries to engage in bilateral cooperation on these themes was signed by Minister Fayot in January 2023 during a working visit to Costa Rica. A general cooperation agreement between Costa Rica and Luxembourg creating the legal framework required in order to implement bilateral projects and programmes and to allow LuxDev to establish itself on the ground was signed on 17 July 2023.
In 2023, a study on digitalisation in Costa Rica was carried out, to take stock of the existing situation and identify opportunities for support to meet Costa Rica’s needs for capacity in this area.
Through the Nicaraguan Civil Society Support Fund (FASOC), managed by Oxfam, Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation supported Costa Rican organisations working with Nicaraguan migrants and refugees, until April 2023. This approach had been adopted following the ban by the Nicaraguan authorities on Oxfam IBIS operating in the country. In 2023 the NGO projects supported helped to meet the basic needs of Nicaraguan farm workers in Costa Rica, to improve the quality of life of the Nicaraguan refugee population that has settled in the northern part of Costa Rica, and contributed to the sexual and reproductive health of displaced Nicaraguan women. After FASOC came to an end, Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation followed up on these interventions through a new project implemented by LuxDev.