FRANCE: CONSTRUCTING A POST-2015 PROGRAMME FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INCLUSION A participatory and collaborative process of dialogue and analysis aimed at upholding the commitment of territorial collectivities to international development culminated with the launch of a study on the international cooperation interventions carried out by French collectivities, from a perspective of social and economic inclusion20. The Assemblée des Départements de France (ADF – Assembly of the French Departments), with the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Delegation for the international actions of territorial collectivities within the French Agency for Development (AFD), presented the study, which took 18 months to complete. Other ADF partners such as UNDP, Coordination Sud, Agence Nouvelle des Solidarités Actives and F3E21 also contributed. The main objectives of this analysis were to contribute to the The study’s standpoint is akin to the French position on the definition one long-advocated by the UNDP ART of the post-2015 development Initiative, which calls for replacing the agenda and the SDGs, to reiterate and consolidate the commitment of “donor-beneficiary” dynamics by one territorial collectivities to cooperation of dialogue and mutually enriching at the European and international relationships between territories. levels in the field of socioeconomic inclusion, and to give the collectivities and their partners a clearer vision and added capacity in formulating and carrying out projects in this area. The study contributed to the dialogue process on localizing the post-2015 agenda as it was presented in Turin’s Final High Level Dialogue on the localization of the post2015 Development Agenda (October 2014)22 and in the International Solidarity Assises organized by the ADF in Carcassone (France, November 2014)23. Both events triggered a lively debate on the study’s main findings and positioning, contributing to enrich the dialogues on the post-2015 framework and the future development objectives. The study underscored the paradigmatic shift that has taken place in the philosophy of development cooperation, as it has transitioned from “aid to development” to “alliances and partnerships” between territories from around the world to better face common challenges with concerted solutions.
20 ART - 2014 in Review
In this sense, it is worth highlighting that the study underpinned this shift, as it found that projects of sustainable and inclusive local development have an impact on the practices of social and economic inclusion in both territories, leading to reciprocal benefits for societies on both ends of the development spectrum. Last, and in line with the trends detected around the world through the consultations, the study reiterated that it is essential to understand the contexts and specificities of each partner country while building on the complementarity of actors in the territories. Only this way can cooperation between territories contribute to supporting the emergence of an inclusive and sustainable society. In partnership with UNDP, a working group “to push forward the economic and social inclusion globally” will be created to develop contextualized tools that ensure the implementation of the study’s recommendations in the framework of the localization of the SDGs and to implement these tools in pilot initiatives in different countries.
Localizing The Post-2015 Agenda And The Sustainable Development Goals