3 questions to Mar Merita Blat, Gender expert at the French Development Agency (AFD)
Published on 08/03/2024.
| In the run-up to March 8, International Women’s Day, and as part of its special edition on the state of inequality in the world in 2024, Focus 2030 wants to put forward the stakeholders who try to achieve gender equality on a daily basis. |
The French Development Agency (AFD) helps to implement France’s development and international solidarity policies, with a focus on gender inequality.
Interview with Mar Merita Blat, Gender expert at the French Development Agency (AFD)
Focus 2030 : The French Development Agency recently pledged to become a 100% Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agency. Can we deduce that the AFD is a 100% feminist agency ? Can you tell us more about the AFD’s action in favor of gender equality ? What resources are allocated, and what are your thematic and sectoral priorities ? What challenges do you intend to meet ? How do you integrate gender into your financing and technical support instruments ?
Mar Merita Blat : The French Development Agency has asserted itself as a “feminist agency” since 2020, following France’s commitments to feminist diplomacy in 2019, and as a part of the preparations for the Generation Equality Forum.
The AFD is committed to projects in line with the sectoral priorities of the International Strategy for Gender Equality 2018-2022, and the new French Strategy for Feminist Diplomacy currently being drafted.
These priorities include a particular focus on economic empowerment, health and education, fundamental rights, including sexual and reproductive rights, and gender-based violence, the link between gender and climate change, and women’s participation in the Agenda for Women, Peace and Security process in crisis and post-crisis zones.
Hence, support for feminist movements and the defense of women’s rights is needed.
An emblematic example of this commitment is the The Support Fund for Feminist Organizations (FSOF), co-piloted by the Ministry for Europe and International Affairs and the AFD. The FSOF has made it possible to grant €138M over 3 years (2020, 2021, 2022), for an initial commitment of €120M to strengthen and finance feminist movements in countries that are partners of France’s development and international solidarity policy. The FSOF has been renewed from 2023 for a second phase, co-piloted with the MEAE, for which 250M€ will be granted over 5 years (2023 to 2027).
Internally, this commitment can be explained by high-level support from all AFD managers, by better identification of needs in terms of technical and financial support for projects in the field, by the institutionalization of gender analysis in AFD’s project cycle through the Avis Dévelopment Durable (ADD) mechanism, and lastly, by the deployment of a wider range of training courses. In fact, gender mainstreaming in operations (CAD1) has become more systematic, and the deployment of gender expertise within the AFD Group ensures the construction of dedicated CAD2 projects.
Externally, and particularly since 2020, the AFD Group has been involved in implementing France’s feminist diplomacy by participating in the international agenda.
The important mobilization and participation of the AFD Group in high-level international events – Forum Génération Egalité – FGE, CSW, Finance in Common – FICS, COP26 and COP27 – has enhanced the Group’s visibility and mobilization capacity. In 2023, AFD took an active part in the main high-level events, including the Women deliver conference, and strengthened its participation/facilitation in structuring initiatives within the FICS but also the IDFC (International Development Finance Club) on gender tracker, guaranteeing the visibility of its positioning as a feminist agency.
Focus 2030 : Moving from words to deeds at the Generation Equality Forum, France has become the leading country providing financial support to women’s rights organizations and feminist movements, according to the latest public data from the OECD. It has also made a commitment to women’s health, allocating 400 million euros in support of DSSRs for the period 2021-2025. In line with these commitments, a Support Fund for Feminist Organizations (FSOF) has been initiated and its ambition renewed from 2023. How original is this fund ? What initial feedback and impact have you identified ?
Mar Merita Blat : The FSOF is particularly noteworthy for its objective of financing feminist movements in the South, with the aim of bringing about change through actions on the ground. Through this fund, AFD seeks to meet the crucial need for financial support faced by feminist civil society organizations, which often have difficulty obtaining funding.
An initial evaluation of the FSOF was completed in 2023, showing the very positive and concrete impact of these projects. France is proving to be the leading funder of feminist organizations in the field, and we hope to be able to continue contributing to this.
AFD has adopted an ambitious approach to financing gender equality projects, exceeding its previous targets in terms of the volume of activity allocated to projects with a primary or significant gender objective. In 2023, 51.3% of projects financed were rated DAC 1 and DAC 2, with a total amount of 4.6 billion euros, underlining the importance attached to gender mainstreaming in its financing.
These initiatives illustrate the commitment of France and AFD to promote gender equality, not only in terms of financing, but also by fostering global awareness and a collaborative approach including governments, civil society, businesses, international organizations and youth, for a sustainable and transformational impact in favor of gender equality.
Focus 2030 : The sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), the annual international women’s rights event, takes place in New York from March 11 to 22, 2024. This event will be an opportunity to mobilize the international community in favor of financing women’s rights worldwide. What are the expectations of an organization like yours in this context? What dynamics do you envisage with your partners?
Mar Merita Blat : For us, this 68th CSW is an opportunity to explain and illustrate our work as feminist lessors. We’ll be taking part in a number of panels to explain our projects, particularly in the context of the Support Fund for Feminist Organizations, but also on themes such as Gender Responsive Budgeting. It’s also a great opportunity to meet our peers and partners from feminist associations. In addition, during this CSW, we will have the opportunity to renew our partnership agreement with UN Women, in order to continue to jointly develop new projects on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls..
NB: The opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the ideas of Focus 2030.
