France has increased its development aid by 50% in five years, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday, underlining his desire to invest in “international solidarity” to protect the future of young generations. “By fighting poverty in the world, we are fighting the root causes of wars. By helping the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, such as floods and droughts, we are fighting for a fairer international order because these countries They are not responsible for climate change,” Emmanuel Macron said in a video posted on Twitter.
He said France had invested 15 billion euros in international solidarity in 2022, up from 10 billion in 2017. “We can be proud to rank fourth among providers of development aid in the world,” the French foreign minister said. , Catherine Colonna, and celebrated that the president had “maintained the upward trajectory of these investments since 2017.”
Creation of 3,000 expert and volunteer positions abroad by 2027
Emmanuel Macron argued that financing projects to decarbonize the planet or protect forests and oceans was equivalent to protecting “the future of our young generations”. In the face of various crises such as the Covid pandemic or the war in Ukraine, “it is our duty to redouble our efforts at a global level and involve all States, all actors (…) to build a new, fairer and more supportive world”. global pact”, he underlined himself.
The president also announced the creation “for French youth of 3,000 expert and volunteer positions abroad by 2027” who will embody “the values of France at the international level.” These are positions within international organizations, foreign administrations or NGOs. The Head of State also mentioned the holding of the international summit in Paris on June 22 and 23, which should mobilize more resources and investments in favor of vulnerable countries in terms of climate transition with the aim of mobilizing the private sector.
Zambia and Papua New Guinea are shown as examples
The minister, who has visited more than 30 countries on the African continent, the Indo-Pacific and Latin America in almost a year in office, confirmed that the needs were “everywhere”. But he stresses the need to change the method. “We have to be more agile, reactive, transactional,” he said, adding that we also had to get out of the logic of “automatic aid” to this or that country. He thus cited the example of Zambia – “a democratic country that can feed southern Africa” - which has “become an important partner” or Papua New Guinea located in the Indo-Pacific, a strategic region for France.
According to her, climate vulnerability is now “at the center” of the French international solidarity strategy. The government wants to work on “a mechanism to suspend debt service for countries experiencing a climate catastrophe.”
Source: BFM TV
