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Introduction

In 2020 Luxembourg continued its commitment to governance, human rights and health at the regional level in the Sahel. In the area of combating communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, Luxembourg contributed to the project by international NGO ENDA Santé. This seeks to contribute to the UNAIDS 95-95-95 treatment targets in nine countries in the sub-region (Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal) and has continued its support to the partnership between the Luxembourg Institute of Health, the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg, ENDA Santé, Luxembourg’s Laboratoire National de Santé and the Luxembourgish NGO Stop Aids Now/Access to improve access to diagnostics and treatment for those infected with sexually transmitted diseases in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. This commitment in the health sector goes hand in hand with the partnership with the World Health Organization in West Africa working towards universal health coverage.

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Beyond the health sector, since 2018 Luxembourg has been supporting the United Nations Food and Agriculture Office (FAO) to improve the protection of human health, food safety and sustainable trade in food in Senegal and Burkina Faso. The year 2020 also saw the continuation of the Agri+ project implemented by the NGO SOS Faim. This aims to transform financing conditions for family agriculture in Burkina Faso and Mali.

In terms of governance, Luxembourg has continued its support for the technical assistance centre in the area of building macro-economic management capacities for the International Monetary Fund. In 2020, the centre organised 11 seminars and six immersion sessions, which delivered training to 459 executives. Support from Luxembourg also made it possible for training to be delivered in the financial and banking sector by ATTF/House of Training in collaboration with the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).

Luxembourg is also actively pursuing its commitment to digitisation and research, and in October 2020 launched the project LuxWays. The aim of this ambitious project is to develop cybersecurity skills in the sub-region of West Africa through the support and training of 10 expert teachers/researchers to ensure that a training curriculum is put in place to train highly qualified local professionals, in the long term (engineers and doctors), who would then join the labour market. The UCAD (Dakar) and the Joseph Ki-Zerbo University (Ouagadougou) are participating as benchmark universities in West Africa, with the SnT (University of Luxembourg) as a benchmark in Luxembourg.

Its long-standing commitment in the Sahel led Luxembourg to join the Sahel Alliance, of which it has been an active member since 2018. The Sahel Alliance seeks to improve coordination of the development cooperation actions of the various donors and to reinforce their impact on the ground.