In August 2001, Flanders and South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Development Cooperation. A deliberate choice was made to focus Flemish support on three provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Free State. Flemish development cooperation with South Africa was initially aimed at poverty reduction, the promotion of democratisation at provincial and municipal levels, and the continuation of long-term and extended relations between Flanders and South Africa. In 2005, a first five-year Country Strategy Paper (CSP I, 2005-2008) was drafted jointly and approved by both governments. It focused on agriculture and food security, job creation through small enterprise development, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

In 2011, a new Country Strategy Paper 2012-2016 (CSP II) was approved by both governments. Flanders and South Africa agreed to focus on two priority areas in the sector of investment and employment in South Africa: (1) job creation through small business development, and (2) smallholder agriculture and food security. In addition, CSP II pursued a number of crosscutting themes: gender, children’s rights, HIV/AIDS, sustainable development, good governance, and climate change. Twenty-five million Euros were allocated to the entire programme portfolio. Across the CSP II portfolio, the main focus lied on the development of the social economy and social enterprises. Attention was given to entrepreneurship education and skills development, business incubators and mentorship, social and green enterprises and cooperatives, as well as to the promotion of an enabling environment for SME’s to start-up and develop. The text of CSP II can be found here: CSP II South Africa.pdf.

CSP III (2017-2021) was approved in June 2017 and is focused on contributing to the evidence base for climate change adaptation (CCA) as a means for advancing South Africa’s transition to a climate resilient society and an inclusive adaptive green economy. The shared focus of the Governments of South Africa and Flanders is the support of innovative solutions to the current challenges related to climate change, bringing about an inclusive green economy which addresses the country’s triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. Three basic conditions (inclusiveness, gender equality and good governance) which promote inclusive development have been identified and will be fully integrated into the implementation of the CSP III. A budget of twenty-five million Euros will be allocated to a mix of state and non-state actors.

The current CSP with South Africa can be found here: CSP South Africa.pdf.

Flanders and Mozambique have co-operated closely since 2002, when it became the second partner country of Flemish development cooperation. A Memorandum of Understanding between Flanders and Mozambique was signed in 2004. The focus of the co-operation was health care, more specifically HIV/AIDS. In June 2006 a first Country Strategy Paper (CSP) was launched for the period 2006-2010. The focus of the co-operation remained on health care. A significant amount of the budget of Euro 25 million was allocated to budget support for the health sector in order to support the Government of Mozambique in strengthening the health sector and in training health care workers. In Tete province, projects focused on combatting HIV/AIDS and training of health care workers, as well as building infrastructure for the health care sector. Thirdly, the CSP I covered some projects in education, namely technical and vocational training.

The second CSP 2011-2015 focused exclusively on “access to health”. The overall objective of the CSP II is to support the development and implementation of an efficient and effective health policy at national level and in Tete province. More specifically, projects under CSP II aim to support (1) the development of a corps of trained and motivated health care workers; (2) health research and monitoring of diseases and epidemics; (3) the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights; and (4) the promotion of good nutrition (practices). Cross-cutting themes are gender and HIV/AIDS. As in CSP I, a significant amount of the budget is reserved for budget support to the health sector, making the Ministry of Health of Mozambique a priority partner for the Flemish development cooperation. Other implementing partners are: the World Health Organisation, Doctors without Borders, Population Services International (PSI) Mozambique, Pathfinder International Mozambique, Clinton Health Access Initiative, the International Centre for Reproductive Health of Ghent University, Forum Mulher and Apopo (a Flanders’ based international NGO).

In 2021, the governments of Mozambique and Flanders concluded a new Country Strategy Paper for the period of 2021 to 2025, focusing on inclusive and quality healthcare.

The current CSP can be found here: CSP Mozambique PDF.

Development cooperation between Malawi and Flanders started in 2006 with support to programmes related to agriculture, food security and health. In 2008, the Government of Flanders opened an office in Lilongwe, and a first Country Strategy Paper (CSP) 2009-2013 was jointly developed by both governments. After a mid term evaluation in 2012 the Government of the Republic of Malawi and the Government of Flanders mutually agreed to continue the cooperation in the sector of agriculture and food security – the focus of the second CSP 2014-2019 -, as agriculture is the backbone of the Malawian economy and needs further development, while food and nutrition security is a prerequisite towards improving the well-being of all Malawians. Under the CSP II a budget of Euro 25 million was provided, of which around Euro 1.5 million was allocated yearly to budget support for the agriculture sector. Other implementing partners are the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the Department of Agricultural Extension Services of the Government of Malawi, Natural Resources College, the Small Scale Livestock Livelihoods Program, the Farmers Union, the World Agroforestry Centre, the United Nations Development Programme, ACE Africa and the United Nations World Food Programme.

CSPIII 2019 – 2023 will, in line with the previous strategy, focus on improving the agricultural sector, with a specific emphasis on extension services, market-oriented farming and sustainable land management. Extra attention goes towards ensuring equal opportunities for women and youth, and to support the ongoing decentralization process within the agricultural sector. The CSP aligned with the Government of Malawi’s major policies such as the five-year National Agricultural Policy (2016) and to Malawi’s National Agricultural Investment Plan (2017).

The current CSP with Malawi can be found here: CSP Malawi.pdf

2017 marked 10 years of cooperation between Flanders and Malawi. A video was produced at that time to highlight the decade of partnership. You can view it here: https://vimeo.com/223426566.