8 March: Expertise France mobilised for gender equality

Expertise France’s action on gender is part of the European and French strategic framework through the feminist diplomacy led by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and AFD (Agence Française de Développement) Group. France’s commitment to gender equality has been strongly reasserted in the Programming Act on Inclusive Development and Combating Global Inequalities of 4 August 2021. This Act provides for 75% of bilateral Official Development Assistance to have gender equality as a main or significant objective by 2025, and 20% as the main objective. This ramp-up in further mainstreaming equality in development and cooperation projects will enhance and strengthen AFD Group’s position as a feminist agency.

Mainstreaming gender in projects

Achieving gender equality requires tackling the structural causes of these inequalities, in order to bring about systemic changes in terms of rights, social status and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls in all areas: economic, education, health, access to decision-making forums, security and social protection.

Gender equality is therefore an essential prerequisite for effectively fighting poverty. It also promotes the sustainable development pillars and conditions for good governance by bringing greater stability to countries. In this respect, it is essential for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were adopted by the United Nations and are central to Expertise France’s action.

The agency thereby mainstreams gender in all its thematic and geographical areas of operation:

• Democratic, economic and financial governance

• Peace, stability and security

• Climate, agriculture and sustainable development

• Health and human development.

An ambitious roadmap to achieve SDG 5 – Gender equality

Expertise France stepped up its efforts throughout 2022 to achieve its target of 50% of its new projects having gender equality as a main or significant objective by the end of 2022. After mainstreaming gender in all these thematic areas of operation, the agency has strengthened its assistance to the teams through the support of a gender expert and the provision of dedicated training tools. The gender dimension is thereby included in all aspects of its operations and in all the stages of the project life cycle.

This support to the teams has been provided prior to the development phase and during the implementation of projects. The gender expert can be mobilised to discuss with the teams how to mainstream the gender dimension in their projects, and to assist them with desk research, the preparation of the logical framework and the definition of the gender marker. In 2022, nearly 100 projects benefited from the support of the gender expert.

Gender equality is also an internal issue

Gender equality is also an internal priority for Expertise France. In 2021, the agency scored 85 out of 100 for the workforce at headquarters in the Gender Equality Index, which measures wage equality in companies with over 50 employees. It also applies a zero-tolerance policy towards sexist behaviour and sexual harassment and has established a procedure to report these situations. In 2022, Expertise France will continue to carry out prevention and awareness-raising activities and train officers in the fight against sexual harassment and sexist behaviour, as well as in the prevention of psychosocial risks.

Officers at headquarters and in the field now have access to the Gender and Development MOOC created by Expertise France, AFD and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, meaning they can train in gender mainstreaming!

At the same time, a Gender Committee, which gathers the gender focal points from all Expertise France’s departments, meets every two months. On the agenda: discuss the progress and difficulties in integrating gender and propose solutions, and discuss the deployment of tools and good practices among peers.