On March 8, France launched the "Paris Pledge," reaffirming the universality of the fight for women's rights and the solemn oath of the French authorities to lead it in France, Europe, and around the world. A few weeks later, on March 24, two debates were organized in the context of the presidential election, one on international solidarity and the other on women's rights. Equilibres & Populations took this opportunity to challenge the candidates on the need, once elected, to bring the "Paris Pledge" to life and to link international solidarity and women's rights, two fundamental issues for the future of our societies. While some candidates and their supporters seem more willing than others to take on this commitment, strong collective mobilization on the part of civil society will remain essential in all cases if France is to keep its promises.
Four presidential candidates were invited to two debates organized on Friday, March 24, ahead of the presidential election: one on international solidarity by associations at the Le Monde newspaper amphitheater, and the other on women's rights by the Fondation des Femmes. First observation: neither François Fillon, Benoît Hamon, Emmanuel Macron, nor Jean-Luc Mélenchon were present. Beyond possible scheduling constraints, this suggests that these two issues are not priorities for the candidates. Second observation: the four representatives speaking on the issue of international solidarity were men, and on women's rights, women.
France's role in defending women's rights
The debate on women's rights has focused on French issues, which is legitimate. However, France's role in promoting women's rights around the world could at least have been discussed, if only because international issues are part of the president's prerogatives. The "Paris Pledge, " launched on March 8 by the President of the Republic and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Family, Children and Women's Rights, was not even mentioned, either to criticize or to defend the actions taken during the five-year term that is coming to an end. The debate on international solidarity and official development assistance only partially addressed issues of gender equality. Only Pascal Cherki, spokesperson for Benoît Hamon, spontaneously raised the issue of gender when he explained that aid in the form of donations should be increased for certain sectors (including health, education, and gender).
Answers to Equipop's questions
It was only when questioned by Equipop that the candidates' representatives outlined their visions for gender equality. For example, Jean-Michel Séverino, representing Emmanuel Macron, stated that the Gender and Development Strategy is "essential to the next stage of our development policy," and Djordje Kuzmanovic emphasized that this strategy was specifically addressed in Jean-Luc Mélenchon's program. We take note of these general statements, which are interesting if they are followed by action. With regard to the implementation modalities, the discourse varied. Christian Cambon, representing François Fillon, did not want to make any specific promises in a tense budgetary context. The representatives of Benoît Hamon and Emmanuel Macron highlighted the goal of reaching the 50% mark for development projects contributing directly or partially to gender equality... which is already the goal set out in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Strategy 2013-2017 Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Pascal Cherki, on the other hand, was perfectly clear on a specific issue, referring to West Africa: "We must invest in reproductive health and the right to control one's own body."
Developing a comprehensive vision of gender equality
Generally speaking, the promotion of women's rights has often been reduced to the condition of increasing French aid to 0.7% of gross national income, a historic commitment made by developed countries. This shows that there is still a long way to go before a general understanding of these issues can be achieved. While we can only agree with Pascal Cherki, who argues that "50% of 0.7% is better than 50% of 0.4%" (the current level of French aid), it must also be said that an overall increase in resources is not a prerequisite for stepping up efforts to promote women's rights. On the one hand, because this effort is fundamental in terms of rights, and often urgent. On the other hand, because investing in women's rights is a lever for development—not the other way around.
