France’s development co-operation strategy is constructed around three main threads:

• It follows the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with particular focus on good governance and the consolidation of the state of law.
• Putting special emphasis on culture, education and research through cultural programmes and scientific partnerships, it promotes a French understanding of development co-operation.
• It stresses the importance of managing public funds efficiently, putting more efforts into monitoring and co-operation with other donors.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee for International Co-operation and Development (comité interministériel de la coopération internationale et du développement – CICID) agrees on development co-operation policies. It defines the policy lines, determines the zones of primary solidarity (zones de solidarité prioritaire – ZSP) to which French aid is channelled and formulates the guidelines on objectives and implementation modalities. Furthermore, it tries to assure coherence among geographical and sectoral goals and monitors and evaluates aid spending. The CICID is chaired by the Prime Minister and includes 12 ministries concerned with development co-operation issues.

Since 2006, government policies have been translated into ‘missions’. Development co-operation policy is thus enclosed in the ‘Official Development Assistance’ (ODA) inter-ministerial mission. This is set out in two programmes: ‘Solidarity with Developing Countries’, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and ‘Economic and Financial Development Co-operation’, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry, and_missions are subsequently divided into ‘actions’. The Minister for Development Co-operation has primary responsibility for the inter-ministerial mission.

The Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry jointly shoulder the CICID’s permanent secretariat which is responsible for the management, control and monitoring of French development aid. Under the authority of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Development Co-operation is responsible for the implementation of the development co-operation policy and co-ordinates the different actors. This involves co-ordinating the different actors in French co-operation, monitoring forecasts and regularly communicating the results of qualitative and quantitative studies to the President of the Republic and the government. The Minister for Development Co-operation also presides over the Strategic Orientation and Programming Conference that was created by CICID in 2004 to co-ordinate the activities of the different ministries in ODA issues.

The High Council for International Co-operation (HCCI) is intended as a discussion forum for civil society representatives. It formulates recommendations on development co-operation policies, examines the direction of ODA and aims at improving the relationship between public and private aid agencies, the government and the general public.

The actors responsible for implementation in the field are the following: 

• The offices of the French Agency for Development (AFD) are the key actors in the field, administering the grants and loans under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry. Within the zone of primary solidarity it assists economic development by improving the infrastructure of production, communications, transport, health, education and the environment.
• The Co-operation and Cultural Action Services (services de coopération et d’action culturelle – SCAC) include 79 cultural institutions, 147 Alliances françaises and 21 research centres. They report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• The economic missions depend on the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry.
• The centres and representations of the Research Institute for Development (IRD) and of the International Co-operation Centre on Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD).
• The French ambassador in each country is in charge of the co-ordination of activities in the field.

In 2005, France spent € 8.9 billion on development co-operation, or 0.47% of its gross national income (GNI). The government has committed to increase its ODA to 0.5% of GNI in 2007 to reach the goal of 0.7% in 2012. In addition to this, France aims at promoting additional innovative funding means, such as the tax on plane tickets, to finance the new international drug purchase facility.

 

In 2005, bilateral assistance represented 72% of total ODA. French development co-operation is essentially concentrated in Africa (almost 70%), and the five main beneficiaries (debt relief excluded) in 2004 were: Morocco (€ 189.45 million), Algeria (€ 140.49 million), Senegal (€ 124.21 million), Tunisia (€ 113.79 million) and Vietnam (€ 85.95 million).

On 18 May 2005, seven multi-annual sectoral strategies were published that guide French development co-operation: education; health and the fight against HIV/AIDS; water and sanitation; agriculture and food security; environmental protection and biodiversity; infrastructure development in sub-Saharan Africa; and private sector development.

For each recipient country, the sectoral strategies are incorporated into partnership frameworks (document cadre de partenariat – DCP). They are prepared under the responsibility of the ambassador and discussed with the authorities of the partner country. They need to be coherent with the poverty reduction strategy plans of the partner countries and the country strategies of the European Commission. For a period of three years, these documents define the sectors which will receive particular attention and outline how the actors involved will co-operate.

France’s partner countries on which development co-operation is focused are:

• Middle East: Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Yemen
• Northern Africa: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
• Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean: South Africa, Angola; Benin, Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Comoros, Congo, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Chad, Togo, Zimbabwe
• Asia: Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam
• Caribbean : Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic
• Latin America: Surinam
• Pacific: Vanuatu

For information on the sectors of French co-operation for a particular country, please consult the partnership frameworks (DCP) published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Loans represent 12% of the gross total of French ODA. They are provided by the AFD, or the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry under the heading of the Emergency Economies Fund (RPE). Technical co-operation is a major component of French aid, accounting for 23% of total ODA. It mainly consists of technical assistance, educational grants and courses, research activities and costs in France arising from foreign students from countries eligible under ODA. The resources allocated to the programme and project aid category account for only 7% of total ODA. They come from the Fond de solidarité prioritaire (FSP) run by the –Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the AFD and the RPE. Debt treatment represents 24% of ODA. France plays an important role within the Paris Club and has implemented debt cancellation mechanisms such as the C2D. In addition, decentralised co-operation is growing considerably, although it is currently not included in French ODA. Approximately 3,000 territorial authorities are thought to be active in 115 countries.

Approximately one-third of French ODA is multilateral. France has no clear strategy as regards its multilateral co-operation. However, one of the features of this aid is the predominance of European aid (19% of its total ODA), with France contributing a disproportionate amount to the EDF (24.3% of its resources). The World Bank group and regional development banks receive 4% of total French ODA. France’s contribution to UN institutions is significantly less than other European Union Member States (2% in 2002). However, France pursues relatively active policies providing substantial aid to the world funds such as the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Global Environment Fund.

 

France’s fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic has historically been a priority target with a specific sector strategy being devoted to it (see Stratégie sectorielle: lutte contre le sida – mai 2005). The strategy is implemented through a range of tools, including information/education, safe blood transfusions, voluntary and anonymous screening, reducing mother-to-child transmission, and providing medications and antiretroviral drugs through the International Fund for Therapeutic Solidarity. The ESTHER initiative (Ensemble pour une solidarité thérapeutique hospitalière en réseau) has taken the hospital as the basis for co-operation in providing access to treatment. Also, AFD has agreed to an initiative to reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS in all projects and programmes that it finances, by including specific aspects for combating this pandemic in aid projects. The approach is still sporadic, however, and limited to a few countries. Also, increasing numbers of aid workers are being assigned to this field. This involves ministries, hospitals, health professionals, non-government organisations (NGOs) and researchers.

However, for a long time, France has been reluctant to directly support family planning efforts overseas, preferring instead to address areas it perceived as less controversial, such as maternal health and demographic research. Nevertheless, since the agenda has shifted more towards a health and rights-based approach, the policy documents now include references to it (see La coopération internationale francaise, July 2005).

Numerically, French efforts are not reflected in its ODA, as just 1.5% of its total ODA goes into population funding. According to projections of the Resource Flows Project, the level of support rose from US$ 8.2 million in 2001 to US$ 83.7 million in 2002 and US$ 56.6 million in 2003.

The French government has maintained that its population assistance was not fully accounted for, since much of its efforts went into multilateral agencies. It is true that France is a major contributor to UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR and the World Health Organization. Also, France is a major supporter of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to which pledges amount to more than US$ 650 million for the period of 2002–2006. In contrast, UNFPA (US$ 1.5 million in 2004) and UNAIDS (US$ 0.5 million in 2005) have received little funding.

The government is committed to encourage a greater participation by civil society and the territorial authorities. Yet, its declarations of intent have not resulted in any significant increase in the resources placed at their disposal. In 2003, only € 71 million were channeled through NGOs, which is less than 1% of total ODA – one of the lowest percentages in the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC).

Faced by criticisms of the DAC peer review, in May 2005 the CICID expressed its intention to double the funds devoted to NGOs until 2009, nevertheless no precise commitments have been given for 2006 and 2007. Moreover, the CICID has announced that it will increase consultation between the state and NGOs. Currently, in addition to the HCCI (see above), co-ordination with civil society organisations is handled through a number of other bodies. Within the Directorate General for International Co-operation and Development it is the Non-government Co-operation Section that is responsible for relations with civil society partners and with the sub-national levels of government in France. The AFD also has a co-ordination structure, the ‘Club des OSI’. Dialogue with civil society organisations is institutionalised in the form of a joint consultative body, the Development Co-operation Commission, chaired by the Minister of State for Co-operation and French-speaking Communities: it includes representatives of civil society organisations and the ministries with international co-operation responsibilities. When it comes to decentralised co-operation, there is a similar body, the National Commission for Decentralised Co-operation. These two bodies concern themselves primarily with operational aspects of co-financing mechanisms. Generally speaking, dialogue with non-government partners has intensified.

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Agence Française de Développment: An overview of Public Development Aid Systems in the European Union. From a study carried out by Viktoria Hildenwall. October 2006

La coopération internationale française (Ministère des Affaires étrangères, July 2005).

Politique française en faveur du développement, Projet de loi de finance pour 2006 (Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, 2005).

France – DAC Peer Review (OECD, 2004).

Orientations stratégiques en santé, (Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, May 2005).

Stratégie sectorielle – lutte contre le SIDA (Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, May 2005).

La coopération avec les ONG.

Progress and Promises, Trends in International Assistance for Reproductive Health and Population, (Population Action International, 2004)