Luxembourg, Netherlands agree on Water and Sanitation Cooperation in Niger at Access to Justice Conference

Luxembourg and the Netherlands agreed to cooperate in financing water and sanitation in Niger at the Access to Justice Conference in The Hague.

Luxembourg  Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action Paulette Lenert and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands Sigrid Kaag have signed a letter of intent on the future financial contribution of the Netherlands to the water and sanitation sector in Niger, in which Luxembourg has been active for many years.

Since 2016, the Luxembourg Cooperation is the leader for this sector in Niger and as such ensures coordination between the technical and financial partners and the Nigerien authorities, in this case the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation. The letter of intent signed on the sidelines of the Access to Justice Conference marks an important step in the process leading to a delegated cooperation agreement between Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Under such a cooperation, the latter will finance the implementation of activities in the water and sanitation sector support programme implemented by the Luxembourg Cooperation.

Minister Lenert commented: "Ensuring people's access to water in Niger is a long-standing priority of the Luxembourg Cooperation and I would like to acknowledge the willingness of the Dutch partner to join our efforts". 

At the invitation of her Dutch counterpart, Minister Lenert also took part in the ministerial segment of the Access to Justice Conference. The purpose of the conference was to review the progress of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 "Peace, Justice and Effective Institutions" ahead of the July annual review at the United Nations in New York. In her speech, Paulette Lenert underlined the importance of implementing SDG 16 and considered in this context that connectivity as a vector of digital accessibility can be used to expand access to information and judicial systems.

It should also be noted that Luxembourg supports transitional justice programmes in Colombia, Syria and Tunisia and that in the new Luxembourg Cooperation Strategy, inclusive governance has also clearly been identified as one of the priority areas underpinning the implementation of "Agenda 2030".