A solution is in sight to allow Caritas to dissolve properly. At the same time, the Ministry in charge of Cooperation is very keen to save international aid projects.
It seems that the death of the Caritas Foundation is now confirmed. This Wednesday, at the end of a meeting with seven parliamentary committees, the Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, announced that the State intends to grant a transitional loan to allow the NGO to liquidate activities that were not accepted by the association Hælfel um Terrain (HUT).
As reported by our colleagues from several media, the loan, for an amount between 4 and 5 million euros, must in particular ensure that workers who have been asked to make the final accounts can pay before the end of the year. This amount is equal to the public money still to be paid to Caritas for the services provided in September and October. A mortgage on Foundation real estate is intended to serve as security for the loan.
This new liquidity is in addition to countless amounts paid out in mid-August to Caritas legal entities not affected by the disagreement.
After finding out that 61 million euros had been found, the head of government was very firm at first. Luc Frieden had refused to release funds to keep Caritas alive. An emergency committee was established to at least protect the national activities of the NGO, carried out on behalf of the State. The new association Hælfel um Terrain has finally seen the light of day. Since Tuesday, she has taken over from Caritas with, for now, 324 of the 349 employees who joined the new structure.
We were approached by LuxDev and several NGOs
The Prime Minister is not the only one who turned around on Wednesday in front of the MPs. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Xavier Bettel, who is in charge of Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, states that he has instructed LuxDev, the organization responsible for development cooperation, to examine the possibilities of it is to take over several international aid projects that Caritas has to abandon. Discussions are also ongoing with other NGOs who are able to take over the land.
A stark example is South Sudan. The Dutch branch of Caritas has already come to the rescue. An extension of this guarantee will be negotiated. The archbishop, for his part, released 310,000 euros to take care of commitments to the NGO’s colleagues in this African country.
Xavier Bettel’s ministry is also trying to transfer 200,000 euros to support three organizations that, without the money allocated by Caritas, cannot carry out their projects in Ukraine, Moldova, Mali and Turkey.
On Tuesday, the chairman of the board of Hëlb um Terrain, Christian Billon, sent a gesture that the State was not willing to “a unique solution» to continue ensuring the international activities of Caritas. The initiatives announced this Wednesday are certainly comforting, especially for people who rely on humanitarian aid. It remains to be seen how many jobs can be saved. In mid-September, the Foundation said the suspension of international aid affected 30 workers in Luxembourg and 70 in South Sudan and Laos.
The damage caused by the embezzlement is severe. Of the 5 million euros paid by the government for cooperation and development aid work, 4.7 million euros disappeared from the accounts of Caritas.
In the future for
“Political Advocacy”?
Hëlb um Terrain could not take over the Caritas service which strongly supported the social policy made in Luxembourg. In question, the non-extension of the funding agreement, as Christian Billon explained on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister hinted at a possible solution to finally keep the “Political Plea” alive. The aim is to be able to transfer the relevant employees to another structure. With our colleagues from Wortthe deputy Juna Bernard (the green) said that the government sings to the Federation of actors of the social sector in Luxembourg (Fedas).
2024-10-02 18:27:13
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