“A trusted operator for a growing number of donors”

Our development and international solidarity policy is one of the pillars of our foreign policy. It’s helping us to respond to global challenges, achieve the SDGs, build solid partnerships, and raise France’s profile and spread its influence.

Our technical cooperation is a major asset. It helps strengthen the capacities of our partners, disseminate French expertise, and create lasting and trusting human ties throughout the world.

At the close of our Foreign Service Review, the President of the Republic asked us to “add influence to the solidarity agenda” and align all operators with this key objective. Expertise France will have a crucial role to play in expanding our networks, spreading our values and “seeking out those in the vanguard of political action.”

Expertise France puts into action projects that are fully aligned with our policy priorities in health, education, climate change, and governance. I can think of several examples: the Shabake project supporting civil society in Lebanon, CRIMARIO bolstering maritime security in the Indian Ocean, and Pravo-Justice backing up the justice sector in Ukraine. Expertise France is also a major player in the renewal of our partnership in Africa, where half of its activities are located.

Expertise France has seen continued expansion since its creation. It’s a trusted operator for a growing number of donors, especially for the European Union. It has also demonstrated a solid business model, having delivered positive results for the second year in a row. We must all remain mobilized to continue this growth trajectory and increase its local presence.

As the President of the Republic reaffirmed on February 27, 2023, it’s essential that we boost coherent and unified communication within Team France, by being more responsive, more visible, and clearer. This will be facilitated via the soon-to-be-launched expertise portal, whose roster will rely on our various government administrations.

This is also a big year for rethinking our policy on inclusive and partner-based investment. We’re going to host the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris, which will seek to mitigate the risks of a split between the North and South. The Prime Minister will also chair a meeting of the Inter-ministerial Committee for International Cooperation, with an aim to ensure complementarity, coherence, and coordination within Team France.

Finally, I’d like to express my thanks to the women and men of Expertise France and to all of our experts working in the field. It’s thanks to them that we have enjoyed such great success. I commend the commitment and mobilization they’ve shown to promote Expertise France around the world and to help make our international ambitions a reality.

Editorial composed in May 2023