On November 30, 2016, the CICID (Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development) met. This high-level meeting resulted in strong commitments to French development policy. The main points raised by Equilibres & Populations and its partners were heard.
The CICID sets the executive-level guidelines for development policy in all its bilateral and multilateral components. Since its creation, the CICID has met ten times, most recently on July 31, 2013. The decisions taken by the CICID have significant political impact, not only because of the infrequency of its meetings, but also because they are made at a higher level than is usual for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (MAEDI). Chaired by the Prime Minister, CICID brings together all the ministers involved in development policy (in addition to MAEDI, Economy and Finance, Environment, Education, etc.).
SRHR, gender approach, and development: two reaffirmed priorities
Firstly, it was important that the CICID 2016 decision statement mention the new "Population and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 2016-2020" strategy, published in early October. This has been achieved, as the CICID calls for the ambitious implementation of this strategy.
Furthermore, CICID states that France will adopt a new "Gender and Development" strategy in 2018. The previous CICID had endorsed the current strategy, which ends in 2017. Equilibres & Populations and its partners, who contributed to the design of this strategy in 2013 and have since been actively involved in its monitoring, considered this renewal to be essential.
The integration of gender mainstreaming into French development policy will therefore continue. As leader of the Coordination SUD gender commission, and through its representation on the National Council for Development and International Solidarity and the High Council for Gender Equality, Equilibres & Populations intends to contribute to this effort in the coming months.
Read the CICID decision statement of November 30, 2016 by clicking here.
