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AFD Group also works with NGOs from developed and developing countries to implement joint or independent operations and to incubate ideas. At the beginning of 2009, AFD Group adopted a special funding mechanism to finance the projects of French and European NGOs working independently of AFD in the Group’s regions of operation.
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AFD Group maintains supportive relationships with its aid beneficiaries that go beyond simple financial ties. These relationships are bolstered by the Group’s network of employees working in each country, and through systematic use of financing-contract clauses requiring regular meetings and technical support. AFD Group’s gradually assembled network of donor partners and peer institutions has proven one of its major strengths. The Group’s partners and peers share regional and local knowledge, design joint project-financing programs, co-produce conferences and other events, and make co-lending arrangements, leveraging each other’s assets and skills. These partnerships improve the effectiveness of aid operations and help spread good social, environmental and governance practices. In particular, AFD and PROPARCO maintain increasingly close cooperative relationships with national development aid agencies in the European Union, and with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission. For example, EIB, AFD and KfW Bankengruppe, the German development bank, belong to the Mutual Reliance Initiative network, which aims to simplify procedures for jointly-
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financed projects and increase aid effectiveness – the central topic of past development conferences in Accra, Paris and Busan. At the end of 2011, AFD Group counted 55 partnership agreements with development finance institutions and agencies, as well as foreign governments, foundations, nonprofit organizations and NGOs.
An Opportunity to Share AFD Experiences with Citizens As part of its 70th anniversary celebration, AFD Group created a traveling open-air photo exhibition, “A New Look at Developing Countries,” featuring photos and videos of real people and projects in developing countries. The Group expanded on the show and included a series of public debates about development aid, which shared the Group’s expertise and experiences with a large audience. Nearly 175,000 people had seen the exhibition by the end of 2011. In France, public conferences on topics related to the photos attracted 3,200 attendees, while 40 AFD field offices in foreign countries produced 140 similar events. The debates and conferences proved stimulating for the audiences and Group alike, raising awareness about often-misunderstood topics and issues while illuminating the Group’s work and France’s development aid policy. ■