Luxembourg and Cape Verdean government ministers;
Credit: MECDD
On Wednesday 12 January 2022, Luxembourg and Cape Verde signed five new cooperation programme agreements as part of the current Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP).
The 21st Partnership Commission between Luxembourg and Cape Verde took place on Wednesday. The purpose of this annual meeting is to examine the state of cooperation relations between the two countries.
On this occasion, a delegation made up of three Cape Verdean ministers (Foreign Minister Rui Alberto de Figueiredo Soares, Agriculture and Environment Minister Gilberto Silva and Industry, Trade and Energy Minister Alexandre Monteiro) visited Luxembourg. They were received by Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Franz Fayot, the Minister of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, Carole Dieschbourg, and the Minister for Energy, Claude Turmes.
The 21st Partnership Commission, co-chaired by the cooperation ministers of the two countries, notably made it possible to close the fourth Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP IV 2016-2020), the majority of whose interventions had been extended by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also served as an opportunity to launch the implementation of the main programmes of the ICP "Development - Climate - Energy" (ICP DCE 2020-2025), signed in July 2020.
With regard to ICP IV, with a budget of €58 million and structured around the sectors of employment and employability, water and sanitation, renewable energies and local development, the ministers welcomed its excellent execution rate (more than 90%), particulary in the difficult context of the pandemic.
The ICP DCE, with an indicative budget of €78 million, introduces several innovations within Luxembourg development cooperation, in particular the implementation of a whole-of-government approach. For the first time, Luxembourg's Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Energy are joining forces with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in the development and implementation of a unique multiannual programme in a partner country of the Luxembourg development cooperation programme, while respecting the principle of additionality.
The objectives of this new generation ICP will be financed both by the development cooperation fund (79%) and by the climate and energy Fund (21%), both in sectors continuing on from the ICP IV and in new sectors, namely climate action and health.
The Partnership Commission ended with the signing of five new cooperation programme agreements under the ICP V, in the areas of employment and employability (€17.5 million), inclusive finance (€1.5 million), energy transition (€12 million), climate action (€10 million) and water and sanitation (€12 million), for a total amount of €50 million.
