Alain Boinet at the Goris Francophone Center in Armenia with Sylvain Tesson and Vincent Montagne. Photo by Antoine Agoudjian, whom we thank for this photo.
Letter to the readers of Défis Humanitaires
“The world’s agenda is changing. Défis Humanitaires must evolve its mission.”
Dear reader,
This is an unusual and even exceptional letter that I am personally addressing to you today.
Indeed, I believe that the many fractures we are experiencing herald a radical change of era and that we must together draw the lessons from it.
Since the launch of Défis Humanitaires we have published more than 500 articles and interviews and I believe that Défis Humanitaires fulfills its mission. Is it enough?
Today, we are witnessing two major ruptures: a fragmentation of the world where tensions are intensifying and an increase in humanitarian needs in the face of a sharp drop in funding.
Other risks exacerbate this tension: crisis of liberal democracy, global warming, loss of biodiversity, manipulated information.
Yet, great progress is taking place in the fields of research, health and life expectancy, human development, and education. However, hunger is rising again in the world, demography is exploding in Africa, disasters are multiplying, the climate is burning.
For 50 years, we have lived through three geopolitical periods: the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR, terrorism and the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York.
During these periods, humanitarian aid has continued to grow within the framework of a triple movement: the responsibility to protect populations in danger, economic globalization and a Western interventionist hegemony.
This period is over: war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, second election of Donald Trump, emergence of China as an imperial power, but also increase in military budgets, success of the BRICS, emergence of the Global South, dangerous tensions in the Asia-Pacific, increase in customs duties…
It is at this moment that the countries financing Official Development Assistance (ODA) and humanitarian action decide, led by the United States, to drastically reduce their funding.
At the “Paris Peace Forum”, the representative of one of the main donor countries announced with regret that ODA would decrease by 50%, or even more.
Concerning humanitarian aid, the fall in funding is such that the UN (OCHA) had to revise its plan at the end of July by reducing the number of people to be assisted to 114 million instead of 181 million out of 300 million people in danger.
What will be the consequences? Mortality, exile and migration, despair, destabilization, radicalization?
While the risks of war are increasing, as well as the essential needs of populations in danger, humanitarian aid is dangerously falling.
In this edition, we continue our mission of information and mobilization with interviews on this subject with VOICE and CHD and on Syria, which I invite you to read and share.
The world’s agenda is changing. Défis Humanitaires must evolve its mission.
We are initiating this reflection by inviting you to participate in it in several ways.
By giving us your opinion on the changes in the world, its progress and its risks.
By telling us what you think of the magazine Défis Humanitaires and what developments you would like.
By proposing to us evolutions of the layout so that it gains in impact.
By participating in this project which has a cost to which you can contribute by making a donation today to Défis Humanitaires on HelloAsso. Donation entitling you to a tax deduction.
It is for you that we publish Défis Humanitaires and it is with you that we want to adapt the magazine to new challenges. I thank you and do not hesitate to write to me at contact@defishumanitaires.com and to make a donation on HelloAsso.
Joint interview with Thierry Mauricet and Xavier Boutin, presidents of Coordination Humanitaire et Développement (CHD)
« L’aide publique au développement n’est pas une dépense, c’est un investissement pour la paix et la dignité humaine »
General Assembly 2025 – CHD
Défis Humanitaires: Coordination Humanitaire et Développement (CHD) today plays a key role between emergency and development actors. Can you remind us what it represents and how it fits into the landscape of international solidarity?
Thierry Mauricet: CHD today brings together 59 French NGOs, engaged both in crisis settings and in long-term development programs. Together, that’s 2,675 projects or programs deployed, in more than 120 countries, by 28,099 staff. In 2024, CHD member organizations managed to mobilize €2.1 billion to support millions of people. CHD constitutes a unique space for dialogue between humanitarian and development actors, two worlds which, although complementary, do not always work on the same timelines or with the same tools.
Xavier Boutin: CHD also represents field actors at the heart of Coordination SUD (CSUD), of which we are a full member. This membership gives us a collective voice within the French institutional landscape. With Coordination SUD, we share the same objective: to defend an ambitious policy of international solidarity. CHD is a pillar of this, by carrying the “field” specificities of NGOs that combine emergency, reconstruction and development, and by advocating intensely for public co-financing of NGOs.
Défis Humanitaires: Official development assistance (ODA) grew between 2014 and 2022. What were the drivers?
Thierry / Xavier: Several dynamics converged to explain this progression. Between 2017 and 2022, French ODA rose from 0.43% (i.e., €10.1 billion) to 0.56% of GNI, i.e., €15.2 billion, which enabled France to become the 4th largest donor in the world. This increase was supported by strong advocacy from civil society, notably carried by CHD within Coordination SUD. In 2016, France ranked among the last countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), with only 2.8% of its ODA channeled through NGOs, compared to a European average of around 15%[1]. This situation contributed to a realization by the State. However, this trajectory was brutally interrupted in February 2024, when the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty Bruno Le Maire decided to cut €742 million from the “Official development assistance” mission,
Défis Humanitaires: The budgetary news of recent months has been marked by an unprecedented contraction of ODA. How do you analyze this development?
Thierry Mauricet: Contraction is an understatement. Between 2024 and 2026; if the 2026 Finance Bill (PLF) is adopted as is, the ODA budget appropriations would fall from €5.9 billion to only €2.9 billion. That’s a halving in three years, a historic setback that would bring France back to funding levels comparable to those of the early 2010s.
Xavier Boutin: What is particularly alarming is the impact on the mechanisms that directly support NGOs. In 2023, the budget allocated to AFD project aid, the Civil Society Organizations Initiative (I-OSC), the Humanitarian Emergency Fund (FUH) and Volunteering amounted to €1.3 billion[2]. In 2026, this amount would fall to €497 million, a decrease of more than 60%. It is a brutal strategic reversal, which marks a clear disengagement of the State from civil society. This means fewer resources to respond to the needs of the 350 million people requiring humanitarian aid according to the UN in 2025. This French retreat is part of a global trend, started as early as 2021 in the United Kingdom, then in Germany and in the United States under the Trump administration.
Thierry Mauricet: This reduction is not only budgetary, it is political. It calls into question the role of NGOs in implementing international solidarity, even though they are on the front line in the face of humanitarian, climate and geopolitical crises. CHD warns: it is the funding channeled through NGOs that is hardest hit, even though it is essential to act quickly, effectively and as close as possible to the needs of populations.
Evolution of AFD and humanitarian funding to NGOs 2022–2026
Défis Humanitaires: What concrete consequences do you observe in the field?
Thierry Mauricet: Each budget cut translates into suspended or stopped programs, non-renewed local staff, weakened partners. To visualize the human impact: the decrease observed to date, €2.3 billion, would have made it possible to finance basic vaccination for more than 71 million children, one year of food assistance for 4 million households, schooling support for 17 million children, emergency shelter for 45 million families, or agricultural training for 2 million young people[3]. These cuts hit humanitarian and development programs hard in already fragile countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Chad, Madagascar or Lebanon where some NGOs have had to pause their activities in health care, food security, water and sanitation, education or agriculture. Entire populations find themselves in uncertainty.
Xavier Boutin: And it is not just a matter of numbers. Behind each suspended project, there are communities that were gradually shedding their dependence on emergency aid. French NGOs have been working for years to promote autonomy, to train young farmers, to strengthen health systems. When funding stops, the entire development chain breaks.
Défis Humanitaires : Yet, ODA has shown impressive results…
Xavier Boutin: Absolutely. ODA has enabled major progress. In twenty years, according to WHO and the Global Fund, more than 70 million lives have been saved thanks to the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis[4]. UNICEF indicates that the number of out-of-school children at secondary level has decreased by 30%[5]. And beyond the figures, it is about political stability and crisis prevention. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that one dollar invested in prevention yields 103 dollars in economic returns[6]. Few public investments have such a social return.
Thierry Mauricet: These results are proof that ODA works, that it is not a bottomless pit. It saves lives and contributes indirectly or directly to peace, security and human dignity. That is why we say that ODA is not an expense, but a strategy of international responsibility.
Défis Humanitaires: How is French public opinion reacting to this situation?
Thierry Mauricet: The French massively support international solidarity. According to a Harris Interactive survey, two-thirds of our fellow citizens are in favor[7], and this proportion rises to more than 80% among young people[8]. This support is essential: it shows us that French society remains deeply attached to its values of solidarity, beyond political divides.
Xavier Boutin: This is all the more striking since in other countries, such as the United States or the United Kingdom, cuts have often been justified by a supposedly hostile public opinion towards aid. In France, it is the opposite: society is ahead of its leaders. 56% of the French want to maintain or increase ODA according to Focus 2030[9]. This creates a democratic space to make our voice heard.
Défis Humanitaires : What is CHD’s position in the face of this situation?
Thierry Mauricet: We are calling for a floor of co-financing for NGOs to be ring-fenced, for French Humanitarian and Development Organizations (OHD) and civil society organizations in partner countries to be prioritized, and for intermediaries between donors and the field to be limited. The leverage effect of co-financing is powerful because every euro invested in international solidarity attracts others. State funding makes it possible to obtain European, multilateral or private co-financing, multiplying the impact of projects. For example, an agricultural project financed at 20% by the French Development Agency (AFD) can mobilize an additional 80% from other donors[10]. Without that first public euro, nothing would exist.
Xavier Boutin: And beyond the financial effect, there is a political and symbolic effect. When France supports a project in Niger, Cameroon or Haiti, it sends a signal of confidence. It is also a way of asserting a positive French presence, based on cooperation and not on a purely security-driven logic.
Défis Humanitaires : What concrete actions is CHD implementing for its members?
Xavier Boutin: Starting in February 2025, CHD initiated a “Public Affairs” approach in order to strengthen dialogue with parliamentarians and public decision-makers. We meet them regularly to explain, with supporting figures, the impact of ODA, and in particular the role of OHDs, on health, education or food security. Our approach is non-partisan: we remind them that international solidarity is neither right nor left, but that it reflects France’s place and values in the world.
Thierry Mauricet: We act in complementarity and in perfect synergy with Coordination SUD, which carries the voice of all development NGOs. CHD thus proposed and obtained from Coordination SUD to propose an amendment to PLF2026, securing a strict minimum of co-financing for field projects of French NGOs and local CSOs. This minimal effort of €186 million, representing 0.03% of the State budget appropriations and 4.2% of the ODA Mission, would allow NGOs to maintain a minimum of activities and, for some, to survive.
Défis Humanitaires : How do you envision the future, particularly for 2026 and 2027?
Xavier Boutin: The government’s PLF 2026 represents a very serious threat to public co-financing of our humanitarian, development and volunteering projects, and to the very existence of some organizations. The entire CHD governance is strongly mobilized to convince public decision-makers to correct it. Member organizations, although very mobilized on their field issues, are also numerous to mobilize, which is a strong signal sent to the authorities.
After the adoption of the finance law, we will maintain constant dialogue with public decision-makers, to avoid new threats, and continue to make known the high added value of our organizations’ actions.
Thierry Mauricet: In parallel, we have initiated several lines of reflection: reducing ineligible costs (with Donnadieu & Associés), pooling human resources, studying mergers or even fusions between organizations, … Some organizations also seem interested in new forms of cooperation with international donors, for example loans.
Défis Humanitaires: What message would you like to send as the 2026 budget debate opens?
Thierry Mauricet: It is essential to remind that French NGOs play an irreplaceable role in international solidarity. They intervene where institutions cannot always go, with agility, proximity and expertise. They are able to quickly mobilize their expertise, resources, work with local partners, and innovate in complex contexts. In 2023, the mechanisms accessible to them — AFD grant projects, Initiative-OSC, Humanitarian Emergency Fund, crisis reserve, volunteering — amounted to €1.3 billion. In 2026, this amount risks falling to €497 million. This is not a simple decrease: it is a collapse. It is thousands of projects, partnerships, jobs and concrete actions that are threatened. France cannot afford to weaken such a strategic sector, recognized for its effectiveness and legitimacy in the field.
Xavier Boutin: More broadly, it must be recalled that ODA is an investment in global stability. It helps prevent conflicts, strengthen health systems, fight inequalities and support ecological transitions. Development works: the progress made in recent decades in health, education or poverty reduction testifies to this. Breaking this dynamic is to weaken an essential lever of France’s international action. The 2021 Programming and Orientation Law on Solidarity Development and the Fight Against Global Inequalities (LOP-DSLIM), adopted unanimously, carried an ambitious and shared vision. Today, less than a third of its commitments have been realized. It is time to reassert strong political will, commensurate with the stakes and responsibilities of France in the world.
Conclusion The challenges are immense, but the mobilization remains intact. French NGOs, united within CHD and Coordination SUD, are part of a tradition of international solidarity engaged since the 1970s. This model, modernized over time, works effectively today: it is based on cooperation, local anchoring and innovation. It would be incomprehensible to weaken it at a time when humanitarian and development needs have never been so pressing. As Thierry sums it up: “It is not a question of means, it is a question of priorities.” And Xavier adds: “Official development assistance is not an expense; it is an investment in peace, stability and human dignity.”
After training at a business school at the Institut Européen des Affaires, in law at the University of Paris X and a professional activity in advertising for 7 years, Thierry Mauricet co-founded the association Première Urgence in June 1992 to assist besieged populations in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1994 to 2011, he served as the association’s Managing Director.
He is now Managing Director of Première Urgence Internationale, an association resulting from the merger of two French NGOs in April 2011. He is also President of Coordination Humanitaire et Développement, Administrator of Coordination SUD, a member of the National Council for Development and International Solidarity, a member of the Steering Committee of the National Humanitarian Conference of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, a member of the Strategic Orientation Committee of the Humanitarian Space Forum, and a member of the Advisory Board of the international journal Alternatives Humanitaires.
Première Urgence Internationale aims to provide integrated assistance in the areas of health, food security, nutrition, rehabilitation and construction of infrastructure, access to water, hygiene and sanitation, economic recovery, education and protection, for civilian populations who are victims or endangered by the effects of wars, natural disasters, the consequences of global warming, and economic collapse following an international or national political upheaval. Première Urgence Internationale’s annual budget is €140 million and its 3,500 employees implement 200 projects in 26 countries in favor of more than 6 million vulnerable people.
Xavier Boutin, Directeur général et co-fondateur de l’IECD, Président de la CHD
After a master’s degree at the European Business School in Paris, a master’s degree in business law and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Xavier Boutin began his career in 1978 in international grain trading at Louis Dreyfus. In 1980, he decided to devote himself to teaching philosophy and training young people and, two years later, took over the management of a popular education association. Keen to show solidarity with populations in difficulty, Xavier Boutin co-founded in 1988 the Institut Européen de Coopération et de Développement (IECD), of which he has been the executive director. IECD first responded to requests from civil society actors, in Madagascar in 1989, then in Lebanon and Cameroon. Gradually, the association extended its activities in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Near East, but also in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Today, it operates in 18 countries and supports the implementation of 38 development projects. Over 25 years, IECD has developed recognized expertise in three core areas: technical training and professional integration of young people, support for small businesses and access of vulnerable populations to education and health. Since June 2013, Xavier Boutin has been co-chairing CHD with Thierry Mauricet. Previously, he was a member of the board of Coordination d’Agen and, from 1997 to 2011, treasurer of Coordination Sud. Xavier Boutin also teaches at IRCOM and speaks at numerous conferences on development-related issues.
CALL TO READERS
Défis Humanitaires is launching a collective reflection on the changes in the world that justify the evolution of the magazine and its layout. Thank you for:
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