Report on Latvia's development cooperation policy from CSO's perspective released

30. January, 2024

The report “Latvia’s development cooperation policy. CSO perspective” prepared by the association “Latvijas Platforma for development cooperation” (LAPAS) has been published.

The report outlines Latvia’s development cooperation policy framework, financial structure and evaluates Latvia’s official development assistance (ODA) from various aspects, such as gender, CSO support and also specific risks related to this policy area, such as increased support, student costs and other risks.

When preparing the report, consultations were carried out with the LAPAS Council, LAPAS member organizations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and other institutions, as well as carefully followed European and world-level processes in European and world-level civil society organizations (CONCORD, Forus International), also Economic Cooperation and Development organization (OECD) consultative mechanisms and other processes. Policy documents and legislation, the AidWatch 2023 process and other publicly available information were also used to develop the report.

LAPAS director Inese Vaivare explains: “The year 2022 was a turning point in Latvian development cooperation. After Russia’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine, residents, companies, municipalities, civil society organizations and state institutions actively engaged in both humanitarian aid and reconstruction processes. It was no longer necessary to explain that what is happening in other countries also affects Latvia, solidarity and support became self-evident. High participation also means greater competition for available resources and requests for openness in their redistribution processes. Until now, Latvia has been proud of one of the most responsible development cooperation policies in the European Union, but with the rapid growth of its volumes and stakeholders, it has become more and more challenging to ensure transparency and careful follow-up of the outlined policy goals.”

LAPAS thanks each organization that contributed to the report.

The report is available here

The activity is financed within the framework of the EEA and Norwegian grant program “Active Citizens’ Fund”.