The lack of media coverage of international solidarity related-issues in France : a French exception ?

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015, are ambitious targets that require international cooperation and the mobilization of all stakeholders. These goals are closely related and interdependent to ensure that the actions taken to achieve one of them can have positive repercussions on the others, or negative consequences from chain reactions in the opposite case. 

Through its three annual survey waves, Focus 2030 examines the attitudes, opinions and knowledge of the citizens on major global challenges. The results of theses studies show that, while the French largely support France’s fair contribution to global wealth redistribution efforts and its commitment on the international scene to fight global inequalities, the level of media coverage and knowledge of France’s development policy and the SDGs among the general public is low.  Here’s how.  

A limited media coverage of global challenges and the Sustainable Development Goals in French media

Although the last five years have been marked by a number of major international events held in France, these happening have been relatively ignored by the French media despite their crucial importance for human rights defenders, and those committed to fighting global poverty and inequality.
 

To measure the media coverage of development issues in France, Focus 2030 looked at the coverage of six events that took place since 2017: the Generation Equality Forum organized in Paris in the second half of 2021, the adoption of the Programming Act of August 4, 2021 on inclusive development and combating against global inequalities, the 6th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria organized in Lyon in 2019, the unveiling of the amounts allocated to official development assistance by OECD countries (including France), the launch of the systematic malaria vaccination campaign in Cameroon, and the reduction of France’s official development assistance announced in February 2024.

Generation Equality Forum

• Long-awaited by the feminist organizations worldwide as the first international conference dedicated to gender equality since 1995, the Generation Equality Forum took place in France in July 2021. Although 40 billion dollars were pledged for gender equality worldwide and over 2,000 commitments were made by governments, companies and NGOs, and despite the presence of renowned personalities such as Hilary Clinton, Antonio Gueteres, Melinda Gates and numerous heads of state, this high-level event was only mentioned in 112 publications in the French media. Results: only 3% of French people claimed to be aware of this conference, despite the fact that 80% said that the issue of gender equality was important to them personally, and 57% said they supported their government’s adoption of feminist diplomacy.

Programming Act on inclusive development and combating global inequalities

• The adoption of the Programming Act on inclusive development and combating global inequalities (LOP-DSI), which aims to allocate 0.7% of gross national income to official development assistance by 2025, was only mentioned in 26 media in France. This law, adopted unanimously by all parliamentary groups and welcomed by all NGOs, had been awaited for 50 years - and marked the end of a commitment made to the United Nations by developing countries - a commitment supported by 65% of French people.

Replenishment of the Global Fund

• The 6th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria only received 34 mentions in the French media in 2019. Yet this event, hosted by France, raised $14 billion to save 16 million lives between 2020 and 2022 by providing free access to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria treatments for the world’s poorest populations. On this occasion, France itself pledged to increase its contribution, allocating the historic sum of 1,296 million euros to the Global Fund. 

Amounts allocated to official development assistance

• The announcement, on Wednesday April 12, 2023, of the amounts allocated to official development assistance in 2022 by OECD countries received very limited media coverage. Only 13 media outlets (internet and print) covered the news (9 articles, 1 AFP dispatch and 4 AFP reprints), reporting on the amounts allocated by France, despite a surge in international solidarity on the part of the 30 countries providing $204 billion (€194 billion) in official development assistance - an all-time record -. 

Introduction of the malaria vaccination campaign in Cameroon

• The delivery of 331,200 doses of RTS,S vaccine to public and private health centers in the 42 health districts of Cameroon’s 10 regions marks a crucial step in the fight against malaria. With the support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, 19 other countries on the African continent will follow suit in 2024, enabling 6.6 million children to be vaccinated by 2026. This historic turning point was only mentioned in 23 media in France (16 AFP reports), despite the fact that malaria kills over 600,000 people every year.

France’s reduction in 2024 ODA budget

• Bruno Le Maire’s announcement on February 18, 2024 of a 742 million euro budget cut to France’s official development assistance (ODA) received scant media coverage. Only fourteen articles exclusively cover this subject in terms of official development assistance and NGO reactions to this disproportionate cuts, despite the fact that ODA is proportionally the most affected budget line.

Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation

• On June 20, 2024, France, the African Union and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, co-hosted the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation in Paris, a crucial event that mobilized $2.4 billion to protect 500 million children by 2030. The forum received significant media coverage, including 82 publications in the French press. Among these mentions, many television media relayed the event, underlining its importance for global health and international cooperation.

Knowledge and citizen’s interest in international solidarity issues

This lack of media coverage directly leads to a deficiency of knowledge of these subjects and a lack of understanding of the dynamics at work in the world. For example, only 10% of French people claim to be familiar with the "United Nations Sustainable Development Goals", while 53% say they don’t know what they are.

Individuals with the most in-depth knowledge of these issues are concentrated among the most highly educated individuals, from the highest socio-professional categories, concentrated in major urban centers, and most often located on the left of the political spectrum. For example, 23% of those with 5 years of higher education claim to have read or heard about the SDGs -15 percentage points more than those without a high school diploma-.