Emmanuel Macron was elected President of the Republic on Sunday, May 7, 2017. His five-year term should bring about significant progress in terms of international solidarity and women's rights.
Firstly, Equilibres & Populations would like to congratulate Emmanuel Macron, who, at the age of 39, has been elected to the highest office in the land. Among the challenges that await him, we would like to highlight two in particular.
Currently, the level ofFrench official development assistance is barely above half of the target of 0.7% of gross national income. In his very first speech after his election, the new president mentioned his desire to create a new dynamic: " France will pay close attention to international cooperation and to fulfilling its commitments in terms of development and the fight against global warming ." In addition, Emmanuel Macron has stated on several occasions that he intends to makegender equality a "national cause."
Regardless of the results of the legislative elections, Equilibres & Populations urges the new president of the Republic to enforce these two key principles. In terms of women's rights, this obviously means creating a fully-fledged ministry with a significant budget. This must be accompanied by a budgetary effort to accelerate the integration of the gender approach into development policy. Emmanuel Macron must finally embrace the "Paris Pledge" made by his predecessor on March 8, which aims to make France a major player in the defense of women's rights around the world.
With regard to international solidarity more broadly, beyond the essential increase in allocated funds, strengthening collaboration with French civil society and that of recipient countries can only be beneficial. While Emmanuel Macron is likely to call on several prominent figures from civil society to form his government, mere appointments will not suffice: it will be necessary to work with associations on a daily basis and to make consultation mechanisms more open.
Equilibres & Populations, for its part, will not relax its advocacy efforts over the next five years, so that these two causes can progress at a satisfactory pace.
