Gender

The promotion and the protection of gender equality remain priorities of Luxembourg’s foreign policy, including in relation to development cooperation, where gender is at the core of the work done. To effectively strengthen gender equality, the intersection between gender and other factors, such as age, ethnicity, socio-economic status or any disability, must be taken into account. It is also vital to address discriminatory structures, and gender-based social norms and stereotypes that are the root causes of gender inequality. Action by women in the public and private spheres of life is crucial.

Since the commitments made at the Generation Equality Forum in July 2021, Luxembourg has been able to make tangible progress. In addition to taking positions in international and European fora, Luxembourg has implemented several tangible measures.

Following a revision of its gender strategy, making it resolutely progressive and tailored to meet current global challenges, Luxembourg Development Cooperation has developed several operational tools and sector-specific sheets to ensure gender is integrated and actually taken into account in the management of Luxembourg Development Cooperation’s programming and project cycle. More specifically, the various actors within Luxembourg Development Cooperation are being equipped with the appropriate tools to facilitate the implementation of different development cooperation and humanitarian aid activities.

Luxembourg Development Cooperation is also continuing its work on developing actions to prevent and combat all forms of sexual and gender-based violence with all its partners, including Luxembourg’s NGDOs, through the improvement of their internal procedures for the prevention, detection, response to and protection against all types of sexual and gender-based violence.

With its multilateral partners, Luxembourg Development Cooperation is pursuing a number of partnerships that work directly to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. In 2024, Luxembourg Development Cooperation continued to provide financial support to the core budgets of UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), as well as to the gender funds of UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Luxembourg Development Cooperation also supports a large number of initiatives that bring together various UN partners with the aim of advancing women’s rights across different sectors. Thus, the Education Plus initiative, implemented by UNAIDS, and co-led by UNFPA, UN Women, UNESCO, UNDP and UNICEF, aims to mobilise high-level political commitment to ensure access to secondary education for girls, including education on health and on reproductive rights. Thus, by the end of 2023, 15 African countries (Benin, Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia, Lesotho, Malawi, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana and Zambia) had made political commitments to join the Education Plus initiative. In addition, support for the UNICEF/UNFPA joint programme for the eradication of female genital mutilation continues and, since 2022, Luxembourg has funded the UN Women sustainable finance programme, which aims to increase the volume and quality of funding for gender equality.

In 2024, Luxembourg Development Cooperation reaffirmed its commitment to gender equality by funding individual projects implemented by UN agencies, both regionally and in Luxembourg’s partner countries.

Two new projects have been launched. In Rwanda, UNFPA initiated a programme focused on improving young people’s access to education and economic opportunities, while also offering support around sexual and reproductive health. The programme is based on three major components: sexual and reproductive health education and awareness-raising in technical and vocational training schools, the reintegration of vulnerable young people into the education and vocational system, and the establishment of a rigorous monitoring and evaluation system. Gender equality is a cross-cutting focus of the programme, with particular attention paid to young mothers and people with disabilities. In addition, combating gender-based violence is a priority, with the creation of a secure and respectful environment.

In September 2024, with funding from Luxembourg, UNFPA also launched the Global Coalition for Transnational Solidarity and Action. This coalition brings together a range of stakeholders to improve cooperation and the effectiveness of maternal health interventions, using evidence-based practices and an intersectional approach. It also promotes the exchange of strategies and advocates for social justice. Its funding is aligned with Luxembourg Development Cooperation priorities, especially the commitment to “leave no one behind”. It reinforces existing efforts, such as the Luxembourg-funded project in Central America, and enables a systemic approach to tackling inequalities in reproductive health.

Beyond these projects, which directly target SDG 5, all new projects with UN agencies financed by Luxembourg in 2024 incorporate a gender perspective. A notable example is a project in Benin with UNICEF that tackles child trafficking and child labour. It is based on the OECD Gender Equality Marker G2 recommendations. It focuses on empowering girls and female adolescents, encouraging their leadership and social participation. It also raises awareness among boys and male adolescents about positive masculinity, encouraging them to become allies in the fight for gender equality.

In addition, more than half of the projects underway in 2024 had the primary or secondary objective of empowering women and promoting gender equality.

For example, in Central America, relying on assistance from Luxembourg, UNFPA continued its support for a regional programme to reduce the number of pregnancies among teenage girls in Afro-descendant, Creole, Garifuna and Miskito communities in the coastal regions of Central America and the Caribbean. Luxembourg’s contribution totals €6 million for the 2023-2026 period.

In Brazil, Luxembourg decided to continue its support for the joint work by UN Women, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and UNFPA to combat the inequalities and human rights violations faced by Venezuelan women and girls who are migrants, asylum seekers or refugees. Luxembourg’s contribution of €1.5 million to the third phase of this programme (2023-2025) will enable the three agencies to work together on incorporating human rights and gender equality into the new generation of public policies on migration, asylum and statelessness.

In Benin, Luxembourg is supporting a UNFPA project to train approximately 740,000 girls and boys on sexual and reproductive health, economic empowerment, leadership and participation and to support the associated institutional ecosystem. With a budget of €4.75 million for the 2023 to 2025 period, the project hopes to encourage young people to become powerful agents of change. With a contribution of €500,000 for the 2023 to 2025 period, Luxembourg Development Cooperation is also working alongside UN Women in Ethiopia to support the Ethiopian government in developing and adopting a national action plan on women, peace and security for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000).

In Mali, Luxembourg is contributing €4.7 million to the training of 150 midwives as part of a project implemented by UNFPA (2023-2024). The project’s expected outcomes are to assist 80,000 deliveries, to improve the knowledge of 300,000 women in health and rights, and to provide holistic care for 1,000 cases of rape and GBV (gender-based violence).

In Burkina Faso, UNFPA is pursuing the implementation of a project to strengthen the resilience of women and young people to the effects of climate change and to bolster their contributions. Luxembourg is supporting this project with €5 million for the 2023 to 2025 period. The project focuses on three areas: capacity building, improving the financial inclusion and socio-economic integration of women and young people, and strengthening women’s economic empowerment in order to prevent GBV.

The West Africa region has some of the lowest health indicators in the world, particularly for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Thus, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is continuing to implement a regional programme launched in 2023, with a budget of €1.5 million. This project aims to support IPPF’s national partners in the West Africa region, specifically in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde and Benin, to defend and strengthen the SRHR of the poorest and most disadvantaged populations, who are often underserved and deprived of care.

In addition, in Senegal, Luxembourg is contributing €500,000 for the 2022-2025 period to fund the VIMOS project, which is implemented by civil society actors and focuses on preventing sexual violence and female genital mutilation among young women, as well as on the development and support of care for victims.

Furthermore, in the Sahel, Luxembourg is continuing its support for gender equality through several dedicated programmes (e.g. the UNFPA Illimin project on sexual and reproductive health and education in Niger; the World Food Programme’s project entitled “Breaking Barriers for Girls’ Education in Niger”; and the FEVE IMPULSE sub-regional project on sexual and reproductive health and awareness, run by ENDA Santé), as well as in a cross-cutting manner through all its bilateral commitments.

In Afghanistan, the Thrive project run by German NGO KIRON Open Higher Education provides Afghan girls and women with access to online courses and marketing training, as well as English language courses, so that they can set up a small business and have a certain degree of financial independence. Since November 2023, 50 women have taken part in this project.