1. France should maintain growth in the ODA/GNI ratio to reach the target of 0.7% of GNI devoted to ODA by 2030 and align budget allocations with strategic priorities, in particular by:
a. ensuring that each instrument has the appropriate level of concessional resources to be mobilised in the relevant contexts - including in fiscally vulnerable countries
b. ensuring that the planned geographical concentration on vulnerable countries is not to the detriment of the French priorities in favour of the least developed countries.
2. To reinforce the effectiveness and credibility of its advocacy, France should continue to mobilise the appropriate resources to contribute to the implementation of the decisions taken at international summits it has facilitated, by involving a diversity of partners and ensuring coherence between international advocacy and domestic performance.
3. To optimise the integration of the social and green agendas, the AFD Group should take greater account of cross-cutting dimensions of sustainable development identified by the analysis and advice tool in its strategic and operational steering, in particular by:
a. taking greater account of positive or long-term objectives in terms of reducing poverty and inequality in climate and biodiversity projects
b. measuring the ex-post performance of French development aid relative to the dimensions identified in the sustainable development analysis tool to inform this steering.
4. To maximise the added value of efforts to mobilise the private sector and redirect financial flows to finance the sustainable development goals, France should:
a. implement rigorous testing and effective monitoring of all aspects of additionality, particularly in lower-risk operations
b. clearly define how Proparco intends to implement its objectives to reduce inequalities
c. optimise the availability of concessional resources to enable Proparco to take risks and support the local private sector in line with Proparco’s strategic objectives.
5. France should pursue the de jure and de facto untying of its ODA in line with the DAC Recommendation on the Untying of Official Development Assistance, in particular by ensuring that the optimisation of development impact remains the main criterion for decision making and project appraisal.
6. The use of local development councils should be strengthened in order to co-ordinate Team France around policy objectives and common results defined at country level and their mandates should be broadened to increase their partnership dimension and dialogue with local partners, as called for by the 2023 Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (CICID).
7. In politically constrained or particularly fragile environments, France should connect its instruments and mechanisms in favour of peace and stability and strengthen the co-construction of development processes designed by the countries and communities supported, with roles and responsibilities that are clear to the populations concerned.
8. France should ensure that the steering bodies are equipped with tools to monitor the implementation of ODA that go beyond financial flows to ensure the overall coherence of political efforts and ODA programmes with a view to achieving the common objectives and strengthening the results-oriented approach.
9. On the basis of an analysis of the respective advantages of the different technical of technical co‑operation implemented by Expertise France (project management operator, ad hoc expertise facility, international technical experts), and in the context of the AFD Group consolidation, France will need to clarify the positioning of technical assistance in the French toolbox and reinforce the complementarity of this instrument with other co-operation modalities in order to mobilise its full potential.
10. The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs should ensure that the strategy and management of the Team France Fund enable a balance between the impact on development, responsiveness, and the objective of visibility.