On December 17, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian will be convening the National Council for Development and International Solidarity (CNDSI). Among those in attendance will be Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister Delegate for Tourism, French Nationals Abroad and Francophonie, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Minister Delegate for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, attached to the Minister for the Economy, Finance and Recovery.
The Minister will review the implementation of the Programming Act on Inclusive Development and Combating Global Inequalities of August 4; global development stakeholders were heavily involved in its preparation, notably through the CNDSI. The Act enshrines CNDSI's role by defining it as the preferred, permanent forum for consultation between major development stakeholders and the State on goals, orientations, consistency and resources relating to inclusive development policy and the fight against global inequality. This will be the CNDSI's first plenary session since the arrival of its new members in a reshaped body integrating two new groups: foundations and multi-stakeholder platforms. The minister will stress that the law grants new duties to the CNDSI, with a debate on the annual report on development policy and the transmission of a report by the committee that assesses our official development assistance.
The Minister will also present the major priorities of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union in the area of development assistance, with the strengthening of the European-African partnership on the occasion of the EU-African Union summit to be held in Brussels in February. The energy and digital transitions, sustainable agriculture, health, education (especially the education of girls), and mobility will be among the leading focuses of the French EU presidency in its partnership strategy toward Africa.