Now reelected for five years, French President Emmanuel Macron must prove that he can do better and be different. There is no shortage of work to be done, yet international development is one of the fields in which he made the fewest promises during his campaign.
However, without a clear program to fight global inequalities, strengthen health systems in the poorest regions, and rewrite the rules of globalization, France risks losing sight of what really matters for the next five years.
In a world where the slightest change on the other side of the globe can have the biggest consequences at home, and as the impacts of the war in Ukraine reverberate in Africa and beyond, this lack of long-term vision is worrying. After five years without a strong figure to take the lead on these matters within the French government, it is time for Macron to appoint an international development minister in charge of the fight against global inequalities.
France needs a minister who is willing to fund the strengthening of global health systems, including vaccine deliveries, and the fight against other pandemics such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria — through an increased French contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The peak of the COVID-19 pandemic may seem behind us, but the strength of a chain is always measured by its weakest link.
France needs a minister who is ready to provide additional funding to address the converging crises of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, through more ambitious development assistance, prioritizing the lowest-income countries, and ensuring that the target of $100 billion in International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights for vulnerable countries is met within the first days of the new mandate. This is because we have not all been equal in the face of the pandemic and its economic consequences and because African countries face colossal financing needs, including $285 billion before 2025 just to recover from the pandemic.
France needs a minister who is ready to strengthen the French financial transaction tax, ready to ask for its implementation at the European Union level, and ready to make transparency and the fight against illicit financial flows a top priority. These stem from corruption, crime, and tax evasion, and contribute to drastically reducing development opportunities for African countries — which are the most affected — and they participate in increasing poverty among fragile populations. Each year, African countries are losing $89 billion due to illicit financial flows.
France needs a minister who is committed to carrying the voice of African countries and involving the continent in all international decision-making processes so that their interests are finally represented.
We need concrete actions for the next five years. Just like the fight against climate change and the fight for women's rights, the fight against extreme poverty in the world must be part of the top priorities of our new government.
About the author
Maé Kurkjian
Maé Kurkjian is France senior policy and advocacy manager at ONE Campaign, an NGO campaigning to end extreme poverty and preventable diseases by 2030. A graduate of Sciences Po Lille and the University of Copenhagen, she has previously worked at the Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace and has been in charge of public relations at Réseau Alpha, a NGO aiming at creating links between groups involved in teaching French and migrants. She has been advocating on behalf of ONE for seven years.
