9.7 Current debates and reforms
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Forthcoming policy developments
By the end of 2022, there are no forthcoming developments.
Ongoing debates
Political engagement and protest by young people to raise awareness of climate change is a major issue in Luxembourg and has strongly influenced the public debate in 2019 and 2020. With the Covid 19 pandemic, the climate debate has lost some of its visibility, but has gained of importance again in 2022 and is a very important issue, especially for young people. The youth for climate movement is active in Luxembourg and has a great public visibility by the strikes which take place on a regular basis. In March 2022, they organised together with the NGO Greenpeace a strike under the slogan "People not Profit". It highlighted the role of the financial sector in funding fossil-fuel industries. In November 2022 a Mute March was organised to remember the sacrifices of the earth.
One important debate in Luxembourg focuses on migration and policy measures to handle the comparatively high number of migrants and asylum seekers from third countries (notably from Syria and Eritrea, since March 2022 also a high number of refugees from the Ukraine). Main challenges are the provision of suitable accommodation for these people, language learning and social integration.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs/Direction of Development Cooperation presented a new strategy on humanitarian aid in August 2022. This strategy was subject of debates and will also be the subject of debate in the future. The cercle, the umbrella organisation of NGOs in development cooperation, welcomes the main lines of the new humanitarian strategy, including the strengthening of traditional knowledge, the promotion of localisation and the emphasis on a holistic approach towards continuous work considering both humanitarian and development aspects. However, the cercle mentions also some points of criticism. It advocates to strengthen the involvement of NGOs, to introduce a monitoring system to ensure that the interests of the targeted populations are not overruled by the interests of private actors.