CICID 2023: France’s new strategy for international development cooperation

The CICID, Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development, a body chaired by the Prime Minister, met on July 18, 2023. The CICID’s conclusions set out a series of guidelines for France’s action in the fields of development and international solidarity. Analysis.

Under the supervision of the Prime Minister, the CICID convenes the relevant departments of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Secretariat of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, and the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, to define a series of guidelines for France’s action in the field of development and international solidarity.

The CICID follows the Presidential Development Council held on May 5, 2023, which set 10 priority objectives. These 10 objectives are reiterated in the CICID conclusions.

New features of this CICID include, in comparison with the 2018 edition :

• The postponement to 2030 of the target of allocating 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) to official development assistance, rather than 2025 as set out in the August 4, 2021 programming law on inclusive development and the fight against global inequalities. Nevertheless, France is determined to maintain its position as one of the world’s leading donors.

• The reinforcement of official development assistance in the form of grants, with France currently being one of the world’s biggest lenders, and the experimentation of very concessional loans.

• The removal of a list of priority countries for France’s bilateral aid (previously 19 countries) in favor of a target set at 50% of the State’s bilateral financial effort towards the least developed countries (LDCs). This target will also be promoted at the multilateral level in relevant forums.

• The decision to include clauses suspending debt servicing in vulnerable countries in the event of major macroeconomic shocks resulting from climate-related disasters in concessional loans from the French Treasury and sovereign loans from the French Development Agency, in line with commitments made during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact.

• A commitment to increase France’s humanitarian aid to one billion euros a year by 2025 (compared to EUR 500 million in 2022).

• The commitment to maintain the target of 6 billion euros per year for climate finance at least until 2025, as well as that of one billion euros per year for biodiversity.

• Promoting the adoption, notably within the framework of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), of a new methodology for measuring the amounts allocated by France to international solidarity, based on "Total Official Support for Sustainable Development" or TOSSD, an international standard that measures all resources, public and private, intended to support sustainable development and investments linked to the SDGs in developing countries.

• Strengthening the political support and evaluation of France’s international cooperation policy, through an annual meeting of Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs ministers, as well as quarterly meetings between the State Secretariat for Development and the Ministry of the Economy, and the launch of the evaluation commission’s work by the end of 2023.

• The adoption of accountability indicators for each identified priority policy objective and the identification of steering methods to achieve them. While indicators are necessary to measure the real impact of France’s international cooperation policy, those adopted at this CICID are nevertheless imprecise and few in number (1 to 3 indicators per major objective).

• Consolidating the role of the private sector in international solidarity, through the AFD Group and Proparco in particular. A target of €1 of private finance mobilized for €1 of Proparco activity has been set for the end of 2025. The promotion of risk sharing with the private sector has also been assumed, a novelty compared to the orientations of the 2018 CICID.

Emphasis is also placed on aid "effectiveness", coherence and maximization of impact, visibility of France’s action and alignment of its ODA allocation with France’s economic and political interests.

Former priorities adopted in 2018 that no longer appear in the 2023 CICID conclusions :

• Any reference to the distribution of France’s financial effort in favor of bilateral or multilateral aid. However, a multi-year strategy should be drawn up by the end of 2023 to ensure better articulation between bilateral, multilateral and European channels, and better management of aid flowing through international organizations, as well as France’s larger influence in and via these organizations. A list of priority vertical funds and international organizations will also be drawn up for this purpose.

• Increasing the amount of funds channeled through civil society organizations, to bring France closer to the OECD average in this area.

• The objective of marking 100% of AFD’s projects and programs according to the OECD gender marker, and 50% of its annual commitment volumes according to the main or significant gender objective.

• Generally speaking, any specific measures planned in connection with modernization efforts, new projects, political priorities: G7, G20, international summits, etc., or amounts allocated to specific instruments or projects, with the exception of climate finance.

• Any explicit reference to the United Nations, apart from a mention of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It should be noted that France’s development policy, whose name had been considered for change, is now referred to in the CICID as "France’s action in the field of solidarity and sustainable investment", highlighting a clearly stated desire to promote the role of the private sector in this policy and the partnership approach favored by the government.

It is also alternately entitled throughout the press release "solidarity and sustainable investment policy", "international cooperation policy", "international solidarity policy", "public policy for international cooperation and development aid", "solidarity investment policy".

Examples of projects or organizations currently supported by France mentioned in the press release include: support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, continued support for the French Muskoka Fund, the pursuit of a feminist foreign policy, France’s action on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and work done through the Support Fund for Feminist Organizations (FSOF), as well as support for countries on the African continent and for civil society organizations.

For more information : read the conclusions of CICID 2023 and the detailed agreed orientations.