On 18 May 2020, Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the Development Cooperation Policy Plan for 2021–2023 drawn up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Development Cooperation Policy Plan sets out specific measures for practical implementation of Latvia’s Development Cooperation Policy Guidelines for 2021–2027. The plan presents a breakdown of the development cooperation budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 2020–2023 as well as reflecting activities planned by other ministries in partner countries.
583,813 euros has been allocated in the Foreign Ministry’s 2021 budget for the implementation of bilateral development cooperation measures set out in the plan. Earlier this year, 120,000 euros of that amount were channelled towards projects taking part in a grant competition in support of civil society in Belarus. More than a half of the overall funding will be allocated for grant project competitions and competitions to co-finance projects that provide support and share Latvia’s best practices and lessons learned with the EU’s Eastern Partnership and Central Asian priority countries, thereby promoting sustainable growth and stability in those regions.
Latvia will provide support for partner countries in the areas of strengthening public administration capabilities and the rule of law, business development, promoting democratic participation, and others. Digitalisation is envisaged as a horizontal support instrument for capacity building in partner countries in the above-mentioned fields.
In order to implement the plan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to announce, in the near future, the annual competition for development cooperation grant projects in support of prioritised partner countries. The call for applications will be published in Latvijas Vēstnesis the official publisher of the government gazette of the Republic of Latvia, as well as on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.