News
Pour le lux ( Voir toutes les news )

Afficher les filtres

2016
- 7 Avril
- Par Pietro Lombardini
- LAO/024
- Share Tweet
Promoting Basic Hygiene in LaosWashing hands and brushing teeth can save lives!
Hygiene standards in rural Laos are generally low and local populations do not seem to fully understand the importance of following basic hygiene practices in daily life. The sanitary conditions at the primary schools are usually a good example of the lack of hygiene standards: broken toilets (which leads to open defecation by students), animal waste inside classrooms due to doors left open after school, lack of hand washing (as there is usually no clean, running water is available), etc. All this results in a high frequency of diseases among children, particularly diarrhoea, which can be dangerous.

In this regard, the Khammouane Local Development Project supports hygiene education in all 34 target villages across the three districts of Boualapha, Mahaxay and Nakai of Khammouane province.

Last month, the hygiene education pilot started in four villages of Boualapha district. The training aims at improving hygiene behaviour among kindergarten and primary schools pupils. Over 750 villagers (pupils and their parents, teachers, school directors and village authorities) will benefit from hygiene courses and complementary facilities that will be installed close to the toilets of the eight schools in the four villages. The facilities include water taps and “Tippy tap” hand washers (see picture below).

The training follows the so-called “children to parents approach”, whereby children that have become accustomed to hygienic behaviour taught in school adopt the same at home in hopes that it will influence the behaviour of their parents and siblings.

The training, conducted by a team from the French non-governmental organisation Sourires d’Enfants, uses interactive materials (such as the hygiene education toolkit called Blue Box, roleplaying, visual support, etc.) to focus on key behavioural changes in personal hygiene such as hand washing and brushing teeth. The programme also teaches safe management of drinking water and use of latrines in preference to open defecation in order to to induce lasting behavioural changes.

Such changes can only be perpetuated if the actions are applied and repeated, not only by the children, but also by teachers and ultimately the whole village. Furthermore, the Village Educational Development Committees reinforce behavioural change by establishing training support and promoting hygiene education. These Committees are often composed of village authorities, elders and some parents and are the main actor responsible for guaranteeing the continuity and sustainability of these hygiene practices in schools.

Finally, this approach also includes strong involvement and empowerment of authorities at the district and provincial levels, especially the Provincial School Health Task Force. Their capacity to train, encourage, follow-up on and raise awareness regarding good hygiene practices in the concerned villages will equally be essential for successfully implementing behavioural changes. Later this year, once the capacity of this Task Force is enhanced and lessons have been drawn from the pilot phase, the same activities will be implemented in KHALODEP’s other target villages.
↑ Haut de la page
- 6 Avril
- Par Rik Delnoije
- LAO/026
- Share Tweet
Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry visits Luxembourg and the Netherlands
On 25 March, a delegation from the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, including Vice Minister Dr. Phouangparisack Pravongviengkham, visited the Luxembourg Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Protection as well as the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. The Lao delegates met, among others, with Mr Fernand Etgen, Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection and Mr Romain Schneider, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs.

The visit to Luxembourg complemented a study tour to the Netherlands during which the Lao delegation learned about the Dutch agriculture sector and particularly about the essential role that organized farmers and producers play in Dutch agribusiness. The visit took place from 20-29 March and was organized and financed by the LAO/026 project “Technical Assistance to the IFAD-financed SSSJ Rural Development Programme”.

The purpose of the study tour was to learn from the success of the Dutch agricultural sector and comparatively assess which success factors could become driving forces for the further development of the Lao agricultural sector. Such success factors include:
1. strong and well-organized farmer organisations that function independent of the government,
2. due investment in agricultural education (from vocational to academic levels) and agricultural research, and
3. clear and complementary roles of concerned stakeholders, producers, the private sector and government that includes multi-stakeholder bodies, like Commodity Boards, ensuring consistency and inclusion of farmer’s interests in policy formulation and coordination during implementation.
In the Netherlands, the delegation visited farmer organisations and agro-cooperatives as well as the Flora Holland Auction, the largest and leading trading entity for flowers worldwide, owned and governed by 45 000 flower growers. In addition, educational and research organisations like the Wageningen Agriculture and Research Centre offered participants an insight into leading research about food security and sustainable agriculture.

During the visit to Luxembourg, the delegates visited Beckerich to learn about community development in Luxembourg and the importance of citizens’ participation to promote ownership and sustainability of investments.

The Lao delegates enthusiastically took in the new experiences and adapted the lessons learned into action points for application to their specific context and situation at home.
↑ Haut de la page
- 10 Février
- Par Quentin Bourdeaux
- Bureau Sénégal
- Share Tweet
Sénégal - Le Ministère de la Formation professionnelle et technique, de l’Apprentissage et de l’Artisanat (MFPAA) se dote d’un Plan de Renforcement des Capacités (2016-2018)
Afin d’améliorer la performance des acteurs de la Formation professionnelle et technique (FPT) et de l’Artisanat pour qu’ils soient à même de réaliser les objectifs qui leur sont assignés, un plan unique de renforcement des capacités (PRDC) du dispositif ministériel vient d’être achevé le 4 février 2016. Il couvre, en plus du renforcement des compétences, les aspects matériels, la disponibilité de ressources et divers volets et outils nécessaires au management et à une meilleure gestion du secteur.

La Formation professionnelle et technique et l’Artisanat (FPTA) du Sénégal évolue dans un contexte marqué par une faible croissance économique, une économie dominée par le secteur informel et une pression très forte sur le marché du travail. Ces éléments, ajoutés à la faiblesse de la productivité et à l’insuffisance de l’investissement du secteur privé, font que les secteurs de la FPT et de l’Artisanat doivent opérer les changements nécessaires pour devenir les véritables leviers d’un développement économique et social réel et inclusif. En effet, l’amélioration de la performance de la FPT et de celui de l’artisanat impacte fortement sur l’évolution économique du pays en contribuant significativement à la lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion.

C’est dans ce cadre que le Sénégal a élaboré, en septembre 2015, une nouvelle stratégie de développement des secteurs de la FPT et de l’artisanat. Le plan de développement stratégique (2016-2020) constitue le nouvel outil de gestion inscrit dans la logique du Plan Sénégal émergent (PSE). Il appelle à une réactualisation des priorités dans le secteur de la FPT, de l’apprentissage et de l’artisanat en lien avec les orientations déclinées dans ce plan.

Synergie des partenaires autour du renforcement de capacités

Deux particularités ont caractérisé le processus d’élaboration du PRDC :
- l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) et la Coopération luxembourgeoise ont conjointement financé son élaboration ;
- la méthodologie d’élaboration choisie est basée sur le principe de « faire-avec » de manière à renforcer durablement les compétences du MFPAA. Un comité technique constitué de douze points focaux (services centraux, services rattachés et services décentralisés) et de deux experts du Bureau Organisation et Méthode (BOM)¹ a accompagné le facilitateur dans l’élaboration de la méthodologie et des outils, dans la conduite des diagnostics ainsi que dans l’élaboration du PRDC.
Un processus participatif et consensuel

Chacune de ces phases a constitué une étape distincte avec ses produits et livrables selon une démarche participative.

Pour ce qui concerne son élaboration proprement dite, le plan de renforcement de capacités a été construit comme une réponse à des faiblesses constatées au niveau des différentes fonctions remplies par le dispositif de la FPTA.

Au niveau de chaque fonction, un diagnostic a été effectué auprès des différentes structures du Ministère : l’ensemble des services centraux et des services rattachés, deux inspections d’académie, trois établissements de formation de formateurs, 11 Établissements de Formation professionnelle et technique (EFPT) et une Maison de l’Outil (MO).

Chaque fonction a été analysée pour en déterminer les faiblesses et proposer des actions de RC aux plans institutionnel, organisationnel et individuel.

Afin de rendre la mise en œuvre du PRDC plus aisée et d’en faciliter le suivi, certains aspects ont fait l’objet d’approfondissements. On peut citer :
- le détail des coûts par action proposée ;
- la priorisation et la planification des actions dans le temps ;
- la répartition et la prise en charge des actions entre l’État et les PTF ;
- le chronogramme de mise en œuvre de 2016-2018 ;
- la définition des outils de suivi-évaluation du Plan.
Soucieux de son opérationnalisation et de son articulation avec le Plan de Développement stratégique de la FPTA et le Document de Planification pluriannuelle des Dépenses (DPPD), le Ministère (appuyé par le programme SEN/028) va organiser au cours du mois de février un atelier pour l’élaboration du Plan de Travail annuel (PTA) 2016 consolidé et du PTA 2017 initial en s’inscrivant ainsi dans le contexte de la réforme des finances publiques en cours dans l’espace UEMOA. Cet atelier donnera le départ de la mise en œuvre du PRDC via une première formation des acteurs impliqués dans la planification et le suivi-évaluation des différents programmes au sein du ministère. Et ce, pour une meilleure connaissance et maîtrise des outils relatifs à la préparation des services à l’entrée en vigueur des directives de l’UEMOA liées aux finances publiques.

_________________________

¹ Le BOM est une structure d’étude, d’appui et de conseil, placée sous l’autorité du Ministre Secrétaire général de la Présidence de la République.
↑ Haut de la page
- 19 Janvier
- Par Sandrine Thinnes
- Bureau Asie LAO/026
- Share Tweet
Laos - “Happy family” video series combines entertainment with learning about nutrition

The IFAD funded Soum Son Seun Jai (SSSJ) Programme, which is co-funded by the Luxembourg Government through LAO/026 project, aims at contributing to the reduction of extreme poverty and hunger in two provinces in Laos targeting 17.000 poor rural households living in 225 target villages.

The programme has recently launched an innovative video series linking agriculture and nutrition. These series allow the programme to scale up the support to its nutrition sensitive interventions by reaching out to a large number of poor households in a consistent and efficient manner using broadcasting technology.

Currently, every second child in the rural areas in Laos is severely malnourished or stunted. Malnutrition rates are particularly high among the SSSJ target group living in remote rural areas and ethnic minority communities. Nutrition education is crucial in fighting the current epidemic malnutrition. However, in the past the effectiveness of nutrition education in Laos was limited because of a lack of appealing educational materials that are available in local languages. The SSSJ-LAO/026 project has responded to this need by developing an innovative video tool kit that emphasizes on key messages customized to remote and rural areas. The video tool kit is made available in local languages like Lao, Hmong and Khamu. LAO/026 project has co-financed the production, particularly in making the videos available in local languages. Moreover, LAO/026 advisers have been instrumental in providing technical advice and in facilitating the shooting and production of the video series.

The series contain 12 short videos that all address specific themes regarding nutrition, from food production to consumption. Various agricultural production topics such as chicken raising, fish raising, vegetable production are covered. A particular note is also made regarding the availability of healthy and nutritious food from the wild. Production oriented messages are merged with messages that encourage consumption of healthy food instead of instant food readily available on the market. The videos also provide dietary recommendations and nutritious recipes for homemade dishes. As only showing/viewing the videos will not be sufficient to create behavioral change among the targeted groups, additional materials like discussion guidelines and posters are developed to facilitate focused discussions and dialogue with villagers to better understand the problem and raise their awareness to hopefully change to a more healthy diet. The complete package is broadly distributed and enthusiastically received by other organizations and already used by UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the Food and Agricultural Organization and non-governmental organization like Care and Plan International.

In order for the messages to appeal to rural villagers and not be another “boring extension message”, the videos are packaged into a rural soap opera that plays in one of the project target villages.

There are Phone and Xay who secretly fall in love; a grumpy grandmother who wants everything the way it was, because she is fond of the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”; a clever husband who learns from his daughter to pick nutritious wild foods and build up his physical strength by eating healthy food. There is Noy, a health volunteer and wonderful cook, who is advising pregnant and breast feeding friends. Absolute star of the series is the little Sonephet who, after a delicious homemade bean snack, scored a goal against the Lao national soccer team.

All actors are villagers from SSSJ target villages, increasing the real life appearance and making it easier for rural people to identify with the messages the series want to share.

The videos (Lao version with English sub-titles) are uploaded on YouTube and can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeO0-UIO6Q-76Z58Pv9XGTKct-fC-oOS8

We encourage you to have a look.
↑ Haut de la page
- 11 Janvier
- Par Sandrine Thinnes
- Bureau Asie
- Share Tweet
Vietnam - Uganda’s Ministry of Health gains insight from Vietnam’s immunization programme
Representatives from the Uganda Ministry of Health (MOH) visited Hanoi for the first time at the beginning of January to conduct a study tour to learn from our Vietnam’s successful Expanded Programme on Immunizations (EPI). The group of five delegates attended a presentation at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE). The former Chief Technical Adviser of the support project to the NIHE (VIE/025) was also present to exchange on the lessons learnt. The groups visited a national vaccine storage facility used to receive and distribute vaccinations as the first link in the nationwide vaccine cold chain extending to 5,000 communes, 700 districts and 63 provincial level cold chain facilities which were equipped primarily under the long standing Luxembourg support lasting over a decade. The EPI programme received support from the Luxembourg Government between 1995 and 2012, as well as other organizations like WHO, UNICEF, JICA and GAVI.

“We feel that Vietnam has come a long way in trying to understand the team performance of the cold chain systems, which we are not doing back home,” said Dr. Luzze Henry, acting manager of Uganda’s National EPI. “We will be able to learn from this and take this practice back home.”

NIHE, PATH and LuxDev representatives discussed the implementation and maintenance of the EPI programme, which has improved drastically in the last decade. Over the years, Vietnam has grown and enhanced its vaccine cold chain, the process by which vaccinations are stored and transported in refrigerated equipment to ensure that they are safely delivered to patients.

Joanie Robertson, Technical Adviser of vaccine and pharmaceutical technologies at PATH, Geneva, Switzerland helped to coordinate the meeting in order for the Ugandan MOH EPI team to learn about the successes and challenges Vietnam faced while expanding its cold chain model.

“We had a meeting, and they shared a picture from both sides, and one of the main thing is getting the Government to commit sufficient resources – that’s a common challenge that they both have”, Robertson said of the Ugandan and Vietnamese agencies. “They both introduced new vaccines in the last 10 years, and that’s also a challenge.”

Vietnam introduced two new vaccines in 2014 to protect citizens from Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and measles-rubella (MR). Prior to that, Vietnam made strides in its vaccination programme by eradicating polio in 2000, followed by maternal and neonatal tetanus in 2005. The nation has also greatly reduced the rate of measles, Hepatitis B and other diseases that are targeted by the EPI programme.

Vietnam’s current cold chain model is unrecognizable from the system it had in 2009. At that time, only 57% of the 179 refrigerators in one northern province of Vietnam were functional. The distance of transporting vaccinations was an issue, as well as outdated equipment powered by gas. The system lacked systematic monitoring and documentation of equipment, clear responsibilities and communication, and resources to make repairs to equipment.

The project VIE/025 tackled these issues by training provincial and national equipment managers to manage and maintain the cold chain equipment. It also provided a set of tools and basic spare parts to all 63 provinces, and the maintenance of the equipment was outsourced during the span of the project. Equipment was added and upgraded, and all areas of the country now have reliable electricity-powered facilities.

Perhaps most importantly, the project focused on the importance of strengthening personnel, which is the true key to the EPI programme’s success, according to Raja Chowdhry, former Chief Technical Adviser to VIE/025:

“Our objective was to change the mindset of the staff. That was the first step,” Chowdhry said. “EPI in Vietnam has a successful programme – the programme side is very good, and I saw that they meet often, but they didn’t talk about all the EPI numbers and vaccinations. They never talked about how it is done, what are the logistics. So our first success was after years of trying, when EPI started to report the functional levels of the refrigerators in the facilities, which was the first success. Now they have received the message that it’s also important to report on how the cold chain is functioning at each level.”
↑ Haut de la page
2015
- 11 Décembre
- Par Alain Jaquemin
- VIE/033
- Share Tweet
Vietnam - LuxDev project joins hands with United Nations ORANGE Campaign
From 25 November through 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence aim to raise public awareness and mobilizing people everywhere to bring about change.
Starting November 25, UN Women promotes the global 16-day ORANGE campaign, which aims to put this violence against women and girls in the spotlight, through many different actions and interventions by governments, civil society organisations, private businesses and individuals worldwide.
Studies and statistics demonstrate that such action is also necessary in Vietnam, where a study found out, that one in three women are beaten or sexually abused by their husbands or partners. If emotional abuse is added, the figure goes up to six out of ten. Further, a recent small-scale survey conducted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City found that 87% of women and girls interviewed had experienced some form of sexual harassment in public places.
As a local development project in TT Hue province, VIE/033 takes a strong focus on women. Indeed, in spite of the overall achievements in socio-economic development, poverty remains a fact of life for many people and women are over-represented. Furthermore, many women who are not officially categorised as ‘poor’ or ‘near-poor’, are most vulnerable and at risk of falling into poverty quickly from the moment something goes wrong – for example as a result of a climate or weather-related event, to which the province is prone to.
The project, therefore, supports and works closely with the Women’s Union, specifically on the broad issues of Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment. As part of that support, we decided to jointly engage in the global campaign as well as "Orange Hue City".
The main event of this 16-day campaign took place on Campaign Day, in the morning of 5 December, at TT Hue’s main cultural centre, with music and dance performances, speeches by provincial leaders, the UN Women Country Representative and Lux-Development. They were joined by a campaign team of 500 enthusiasts – every single one of them dressed in the colour of the day.
Thousands of leaflets were distributed at key places around the city, and an Orange parade on bicycles rode the city’s streets, which had been decorated in the colours of the 16-day campaign and brought the Campaign Day to an impressive close.
As the UN Women’s Country Representative stated in her speech: “fear of violence leads women to withdraw from society and from jobs, and causes girls to drop out of school”. Through this Orange campaign, and the wide media coverage in newspapers and on TV, people’s awareness about the forms and level of violence against women and girls, and what action can be taken against it, has been raised. In combination with the active support of the local authorities to tackle the issues, we are hopeful that it will contribute to a safer environment for women and girls and foster their socio-economic prospects.
↑ Haut de la page
- 7 Décembre
- Par Richard Schmid
- Bureau Kosovo
- Share Tweet
Luxembourg re-affirms development partnership with Kosovo
_{(Published by the Ministry of European Integration, Kosovo)}

On 30 November 2015 a High Level Partnership Commission between the Government of Kosovo and the Government of Luxembourg took place in Luxembourg.

During the meeting, the delegations discussed the progress and challenges in the implementation of the Luxembourg assistance in Kosovo in the areas of vocational education and training, health as well as water and sanitation.

Regarding the health sector, delegations discussed the health sector strategy and establishment of the Health Information System. For the education sector, progress has been reviewed in the operationalization of the Vocational Education & Training Agency and Centers of Competence. In the water sector, Kosovo confirmed co-financing of joint infrastructural projects, whereas the Luxembourg delegation asked for courageous steps to be taken in the improvement of water management in Kosovo. Delegations also discussed future technical assistance, potential support to civil society and potential exchanges between Kosovo and Luxembourg universities.

The Head of the Kosovo delegation, Mr. Ramadan Ilazi, Deputy Minister of European Integrations said: “Luxembourg has continuously been a strong supporter of the Kosovo European integration agenda. Furthermore, Luxembourg has allocated around EUR 24 million to support the efforts undertaken to reform Kosovo. Three sectors of our joint work are some of the key Government priorities in the years to come”.

The Head of the Luxembourg delegation, Ambassador Ms Martine Schommer, Director, Department for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, Ministry of Foreign an European Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg said: “Luxembourg remains strongly committed to Kosovo’s development and EU integration. A new four-year development program will be designed for the period 2017-2020 aiming to support Kosovo’s development strategies in various sectors (including health) and to strengthen Kosovo’s civil society”.

Luxembourg welcomed today the ratification of two agreements in the sectors of health and water by the Assembly.

Luxembourg will have granted Kosovo EUR 48 million of assistance in the period between 2013-2020.

The next High Level Partnership Commission will take place in Pristina in 2016.

(Ministry of European Integration, Kosovo)

See more at: http://mei-ks.net/en/news/luxembourg-re-affirms-development-partnership-with-kosovo#sthash.9Y4mMgXJ.dpuf
↑ Haut de la page
- 25 Novembre
- Par María del Rocío VAZQUEZ
- NIC/026
- Share Tweet
Nicaragua - Fortalecimiento de la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional en Hotelería & Turismo
Desde el pasado mes de abril de 2014 la Cooperación luxemburguesa, a través del proyecto NIC/026 “Fortalecimiento Institucional de la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional en Hotelería & Turismo”, apoya en este sector al INATEC ente rector de la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional (ETFP) en Nicaragua. El principal resultado del proyecto es la remodelación del Hotel Escuela Casa Luxemburgo (HECL) e incluirá el apoyo a siete aulas de Hotelería & Turismo repartidas en otros tantos departamentos del país.
Este proyecto se ampliará a partir de enero de 2016, con un presupuesto adicional de 6 000 000 de Euros y una prolongación de tiempo hasta finales de 2017, todo ello enmarcado dentro de la extensión del III Programa Indicativo de Cooperación (PIC 2015-2017); ascendiendo a 10 500 000 Euros el monto total destinado al Fortalecimiento Institucional de la ETFP.
Esta nueva ampliación asume las actividades que se habían previsto en el proyecto NIC/026 original, incluyendo además los siguientes resultados: (i) apoyar integralmente cuatro centros de formación del INATEC convirtiéndolos en “centros de referencia”, (ii) apoyar la implantación/mantenimiento de los sistemas de gestión de calidad en INATEC central y 14 centros, (iii) reforzar las capacidades en aquellos departamentos del INATEC central de interés en relación con los resultados del proyecto y (iv) mejorar las relaciones e imagen de la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional en la sociedad nicaragüense.
^{Gráficos por ordenador}
La fecha de finalización del proyecto ampliado coincidirá con el lanzamiento de la programación conjunta que se llevará a cabo junto con la Unión Europea. Enfocados en esta Cooperación conjunta, desde hace un año se realiza una mesa de donantes de ETFP con todos los actores del sector presentes en Nicaragua (AECID, JICA, EU, COSUDE, OEI, USAID, entre otros). El objetivo de esta mesa de donantes es obtener información de los proyectos que se están llevando a cabo en el país y compartir buenas prácticas y experiencias, además de intentar desarrollar actividades de forma conjunta y que en definitiva sirva como instrumento de armonización entre donantes y alineación con las directrices del país. Dentro de este marco, se ha creado una base de datos de donantes que permite visualizar todos los proyectos de educación en Nicaragua, alineados al Plan Estratégico de Educación del país.
Dado que ha sido la primera experiencia de formulación de un proyecto de LuxDev bajo la modalidad de Gestión basada en Resultados (GBR), el equipo ha contado con la asistencia puntual de expertos en la materia. El trabajo ha supuesto un aprendizaje on-the-job para todo el equipo de formulación (incluida la asistencia técnica del proyecto) y será precisa una formación más profunda para aplicar al día a día la Gestión para resultados expresada en el Documento Técnico Financiero.
Este proceso de reformulación del proyecto ha sido responsabilidad de un equipo integrado por el NIC/026 y representantes del socio nacional (INATEC), así como del equipo de la Oficina regional de Managua, consultores expertos y colegas de la sede de Luxemburgo. El equipo del proyecto ha simultaneado el desarrollo de las actividades habituales y el desarrollo de capacitaciones, talleres y reuniones para el proceso de formulación.
Gracias a este trabajo de forma conjunta, paciencia y dedicación ha sido posible la ampliación de este proyecto, con el cual se cumplen diez años de apoyo de la Cooperación luxemburguesa a la Educación Técnica y Formación Profesional en Nicaragua.
↑ Haut de la page
- 19 Octobre
- Par Rik Delnoije, CTA
- Bureau Asie LAO/026
- Share Tweet
Laos - Turning capital into pro-poor results: building a convincing case for direct financing of village level entities
Luxembourg Development Cooperation project LAO/026 Technical Assistance to the Soum Son Seun Jai (SSSJ) Programme in Sayabouly province commenced in early January 2013. This three-year Luxembourg co-financing project of 1.7 million EUR supports the provision of technical assistance (TA) to the 15 M USD SSSJ programme funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The project has entered its final year of implementation. During this last year some deliberate changes have been realized with regards to the project’s operational mode.

The major change has been the reallocation of the project budget to support the introduction of innovative financing and implementation modalities into the Programme. This is achieved through the signing of Delegation Agreements for Funds and Implementation with community level entities. In this regard, a total of 25 Delegation Agreements were signed, financing nearly100 prioritized activities worth 300 000 EUR in total, wherein 200 000 EUR are being earmarked to support 15 Community Development Funds and another 100 000 EUR support activity plans of ten selected Agricultural Producer Groups. While the budget contracted to Community Development Funds merely finance village level infrastructure such as sanitation or school facilities, the Agricultural Producer Groups have allocated their investment partly towards productive activities like the purchase of agro-processing equipment.

The signing of Delegation Agreements for Funds and Implementation with community level entities within project LAO/026 has triggered a tremendous burst of activities. Partnering communities enthusiastically started implementing community plans and collective investments ranging from building schools and sanitation facilities to processing of wild tea or collective pig-raising. The usually rather quiet villages are buzzing with activities; village meetings are held to discuss designs and budgets, labour is mobilized and local materials collected while construction of village infrastructure is on-going at a pace unknown and unseen before.

Most agreements became effective in June 2015, and per end of October, four months on the road, half of the planned activities are under implementation and/or being finalized already. Consequently, of the 300 000 EUR worth of planned investments, the depletion rate accounts for 50%.

Four months into implementation, the bare physical sight of villages has changed dramatically. with the appearance of sanitation facilities, running water, storage houses, flood protection works, which were all very much needed but never realized due to the lack of funds. Even more important, the spirit of villagers have taken a turn; villagers express confidence and satisfaction about their activities and the positive changes happening in their village; everybody is extremely proud to be the leading force behind all this action. In fact communities grabbed the offered opportunity with both hands and changed from passive receivers of development support to active shapers and owners of their village’s development. So far this has been a successful example of putting funds into action directly at village level whilst benefitting the most disadvantaged.

_{Being in charge means that villagers are fully responsible for planning, calculating and administrating collective investments. Enabling this required substantial training input and on-the-job coaching by the project advisors.}

_{The Village Development Committee of the ethnic Khamu village Hoyka in Pak Beng District received 13 350 EUR for the construction of sanitation, erosion control works and a village meeting hall. 8 weeks after having received the money the village has for the first time in its history complete coverage of sanitation facilities, while the erosion control works have last month prevented the otherwise yearly flooding of the village. The community-meeting hall is under construction. While the project has made available the financing for the external materials for the construction like cement, ceramic sanitation and roofing, villagers have contributed through their labour input and provision of local materials.}

_{The Pig Producer Group in the ethnic Lanten village Paknamthong received 8 989 EUR for the purchase of a fodder mill and construction of housing for the mill and the construction of collective pigpens. The high labour input has been the main obstacle for scaling their pig fattening business. Through collective fattening, meaning the physical construction of collective pigpens and more importantly the development of a collective system of rotating labour input, group members are now able to expand their business substantially. While the project financed the materials for the construction of the pigpens and the purchase of the fodder mill, villagers have contributed equally through their labour input, provision of local materials and stocking the pens with piglets.}

_{Investment by the project: 3 000 EUR, additional investment by the village (material and labour) 2 600 EUR. Household level sanitation facilities were costed at 70 EUR per household.}

“For the first time in the history of our village we now have access to running water and the best thing: we did it ourselves”: statement by the Head of Village Poutouy, Saysathan District – Sayabouly Province.

↑ Haut de la page
- 13 Octobre
- Par Alice Risch
- Bureau Sénégal https://luxdev.lu/fr/news/rof/man Bureau Burkina Faso Bureau Cabo Verde Bureau Kosovo
- Share Tweet
Signature de la Charte de la Médiation par LuxDev
LuxDev fait partie des 20 premières entreprises et organisations qui, le 9 octobre 2015, ont signé la Charte de la Médiation lors d’une cérémonie officielle organisée par le CMCC (Centre de Médiation civile et commerciale), ensemble avec la Chambre des Métiers et la Chambre de Commerce.

En tant que signataire de la Charte de la Médiation, LuxDev s’engage, lorsque l’Agence se retrouve dans une situation pouvant mener à un contentieux inter- ou intra-entreprise, d’opter tout d’abord pour un processus de médiation afin de trouver une solution amiable au litige.

« En tant que processus confidentiel qui permet de régler des différends de façon efficiente, la médiation me semble particulièrement intéressante pour le monde des entreprises. Par ailleurs, elle constitue une méthode efficace de prévention de conflits. De par les valeurs qui la sous-tendent, elle s’intègre parfaitement dans la démarche RSE poursuivie par l’Agence », souligne Gaston Schwartz, Directeur général de LuxDev.

Gaston Schwartz, Directeur général de LuxDev lors de la signature officielle de la Charte de la Médiation
↑ Haut de la page