France

Country Profile

As in every country across Europe, the French context is marked by the economic crisis. Budgetary constraints affect all sectors including Official Development Assistance (ODA), even though the official position is that France will reach the target of 0.7% of its GDP in 2015. In 2011, ODA dropped to approximately 0.45%. France, however, remains a major donor in absolute terms, providing around 10% of global ODA. The majority of French ODA goes through bilateral channels, but 70% of health aid is multilateral.

The field of Reproductive Health and Family Planning was spared from budget cuts; the efforts to put these issues at the top of the French aid agenda have even increased significantly. Two main initiatives shape the framework of France’s actions on Reproductive Health and Family Planning:

1) France has engaged in the Muskoka Initiative on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, which means that €100 million are annually allocated to that area (2011–2015). This commitment is the main component of French health aid. It deeply structures Reproductive Health and Family Planning aid policies.

Each year, €48 million are channelled through the French Development Agency, which implements bilateral projects. €19 million are dedicated to bi-/multilateral programmes in partnership with four UN agencies: WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women.

2) For the first time ever, France is making a priority out of Family Planning per se, in particular in West Africa. At the beginning of 2011, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French Development Agency (in collaboration with the Gates and Hewlett Foundations) held the ‘West Africa Regional Conference on Population, Development and Family Planning: The Urgency to Act’ in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The follow-up process with the countries involved (Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast) is currently going on at a practical level and marks the fact that France is now ready to play a major role in Family Planning in this part of the world, where the needs are tremendous.

From a general perspective, France is bound to see some changes in 2012, with the presidential elections to be held in May and followed by the legislative elections in June, which could completely reshape the political landscape. However, it is highly unlikely that a shift would jeopardize Reproductive Health and Family Planning policies.

Key Documents