Dear Minister,
Humanitarian aid is life insurance for populations at risk from war, disaster or epidemics, from Lebanon to Ukraine, from Sudan to Gaza, from Haiti to Chad.
According to the UN, there were 135 million human beings at risk in the world in 2018. There were 274 million in 2022, and 300 million this year. Rescuing them means saving lives in an emergency, then accompanying them in the hope of returning them to their homes and lands.
It is France’s responsibility and honor to be one of the leading countries today in demanding solidarity in action with its partners, including NGOs, the Red Cross and the UN.
In just a few years, France has made up for its humanitarian lag. Since 2010, together with humanitarian organizations and the Centre de Crise et de Soutien (CDCS) of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministers such as Bernard Kouchner, Alain Juppé, Laurent Fabius, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Catherine Colonna have led the creation and organization of the Conférence Nationale Humanitaire, the Groupe de Concertation Humanitaire and the Stratégie Humanitaire de la République Française, with the support of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Finally, at the end of the Comité interministériel de la Coopération Internationale et du Développement-CICID (Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development) in 2018 and again in 2023, France will have a humanitarian budget worthy of the name, within the framework of an increase in Official Development Assistance and a strengthened partnership with the major players in international solidarity, including the European Union (ECHO), the OECD and the United Nations.
As a result, our country’s humanitarian aid budget has risen from 170 million euros in 2018 to around 850 million euros in 2023, divided between several implementation tools (FUH, NUOI, AAP).
In this way, your ministry, together with the Crisis and Support Center and its partners, has made it possible to respond to calls for help, saving more lives by meeting vital daily needs for medicines, food, drinking water and shelter, thus helping to stabilize dangerous situations, while at the same time working towards sustainable solutions for and with these populations.
Indeed, it’s worth noting that this budget and the people involved in it have already helped the victims of the COVID 19 pandemic, and the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey, Syria and Morocco. Today, they will help the suffering Lebanese, while providing winter aid to victims of the war in Ukraine, as in other countries in crisis. Humanitarian aid is neither a slogan nor a posture, it’s a life-saving gesture.
But today, Mr. Minister, we are worried. Already, in February, France’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) was cut by 13%, and it could be cut again soon, as Coordination Sud, the NGO coordinating body, and I fear.
Do we realize what it would mean to cut our aid by a quarter or a third to fragile countries and populations, where any deterioration in living conditions would have harmful effects for all? We also fear that the link between humanitarian aid, stabilization and development with AFD will be weakened.
In the “Humanitarian strategy of the French Republic” for the period 2023 – 2027, Catherine Colonna, who preceded you in your responsibilities, wrote “Humanitarian funding will reach 1 billion euros per year by 2025”.
I believe that this commitment must be kept as one of our country’s top priorities on the international stage. I’m well aware of the budgetary situation and the savings that need to be made, but it’s also essential to establish priorities so as not to cut humanitarian aid blindly. A reduction in France’s humanitarian budget would have serious repercussions for many countries and populations at risk.
What’s more, it would weaken the entire system in place, as well as relations with your external partners. It would weaken the triptych of crisis response: humanitarian aid, security and a political solution.
In the current context of disrupted international relations, isn’t France’s role to ensure the safety of French citizens as a priority, while also seeking international security, by mobilizing countries and institutions that are committed, as well as those that may have doubts?
The return of war as a means of resolving conflicts, the refugee and displaced persons crisis, the migratory crisis, the climate crisis, the demographic crisis in Africa, water stress, disasters and pandemics: the countries and populations affected by these crises are hoping for relief on a par with what France has succeeded in building.
We confidently hope that Parliament will work with you on this issue as part of the Finance Bill 2025, with the support of millions of our fellow citizens.
Mr. Minister, may your trip to Lebanon, which was the occasion for the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid, symbolize a major thrust of your action.
Please accept, Mr. Minister, the assurance of my highest consideration.
Alain Boinet.
President.
Défis Humanitaires.
Member of the Groupe de Concertation Humanitaire.
Alain Boinet is President of the association Défis Humanitaires, which publishes the online magazine www.defishumanitaires.com. He is the founder of the humanitarian association Solidarités International, of which he was Managing Director for 35 years. He is also a member of the Groupe de Concertation Humanitaire at the Centre de Crise et de Soutien of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and of the Board of Directors of Solidarités International, the Partenariat Français pour l’Eau (PFE), the Véolia Foundation and the Think Tank (re)sources. He continues to travel to the field (Northeast Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh and Armenia) and to speak out in the media.
I invite you to read these interviews and article published in the edition :
Demographic challenges : United Nations World Population Prospects 2024 UNDSA