Results & Outlook 2020-2021: "We responded where needed, on all fronts"

What is your assessment of the year 2020 for Expertise France?

Jérémie Pellet – It was a complicated year, for Expertise France as for everyone else. The impact on our activity was limited in the end, as there was only a 5% decline compared to 2019. The impressive mobilisation of our teams, to whom I express my great thanks, enabled us not only to carry out our projects in the field, but also to respond to the health and economic emergency by setting up specific Covid-19 response measures and adapting our entire programme.
 

We managed not only to carry out our projects in the field, but also to respond to the health and economic emergency

At the same time, we continued to structure the agency and strengthen our institutional positioning, as evidenced by our participation in the Presidential Development Council held last December. We responded where needed, on all fronts. Building on this momentum, we then started off 2021 strongly by organising the International Cooperation Conference.

The new programming law on inclusive development and combating global inequalities provides for a strong boost to French development policy. Why is technical cooperation an essential aspect of this?

Laurence Tubiana – Technical cooperation is a core part of development policies. It is a vehicle of exchanges of know-how, experience, and expertise; as such, it fuels public policies that contribute to economic, social, and sustainable development. Through technical assistance, it also backs up these public policies in the framework of structuring projects.
 

Technical cooperation provides an essential human dimension

It provides an essential human dimension by mobilising and bringing together all the diverse development players: public actors, civil society, the private sector, and international organisations. It was therefore essential to officialise the renewal of technical cooperation via this bill, which helps put into action France’s far-reaching ambitions in official development assistance.

In what way does Expertise France embody renewed technical cooperation?

Jérémie Pellet – Expertise France has a legacy: that of the international development cooperation operators of the ministries that preceded it, such as Justice Coopération Internationale (JCI), which joined us on January 1, 2021. This special relationship with the entire French administration is at the heart of our DNA.
 

This renewal is both quantitative and qualitative

But we are also renewing our approach in the context of increasing international cooperation by France and a more political European approach to development. This renewal is both quantitative and qualitative. It is embodied on the one hand by doubling by 2023 of the number of international technical experts managed by Expertise France on behalf of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and, on the other, by the search for a partnership approach that is based more firmly on youth, diasporas, and civil society.

Expertise France will soon join AFD Group. How will this integration enable Expertise France to strengthen the effectiveness and accountability of its action?

Laurence Tubiana – Expertise France is a young agency, which has developed tremendously over the last six years. It is experiencing continued growth: it has tripled its staff and activity and adapted to these changes in record time. Becoming part of AFD Group, will help bolster and  structure Expertise France, which will benefit from AFD’s lengthy experience, dynamism, and visibility.
 

It will be a win-win partnership

But it will be a win-win partnership, as AFD will certainly benefit from Expertise France’s flexibility and its ability to project itself into crisis  areas. And, together, the Group will be able to draw on the complementary skills of the two institutions.

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