Similar to other global development players, Agence Française de Développement pursues partnerships to achieve its goals. It collaborates with many different types of organizations, including donor agencies, French authorities and civil society groups, both within France and in countries where it works.
We spoke with Catherine Garreta, director for external relations and partnerships at AFD, on the sidelines of World Convergences Forum 2013 in Paris about how the French development agency works with its partners.
AFD, she said, has a special section devoted to engaging NGOs as partners, financing their projects in developing countries and organizing dialogues with them. With the private sector, it collaborates on initiatives designed to bring about innovation.
Working with the private sector, however, is a challenge, Garreta acknowledged, as AFD works “under the supervision of some regular regulations and we have to follow some strict rules, the criteria of a project and to make sure that it’s transparent.”
“And sometimes [a] relationship with the private sector means something different,” she added. “It’s not the same kind of arrangement [i.e., the traditional way of financing projects] so we need to find new ideas and also to convince our board, the government that we can make good use of these resources.”
Watch the above video for more of our interview with Catherine Garreta.
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About the author
Eliza Villarino
Eliza Villarino currently manages one of today’s leading publications on humanitarian aid, global health and international development, the weekly GDB. At Devex, she has helped grow a global newsroom, with talented journalists from major development hubs such as Washington, D.C, London and Brussels. She regularly writes about innovations in global development.
