Canada-France Action Plan on International Assistance and Sustainable Development

Canada and the French Republic (hereinafter referred to as “France”) commit to strengthen their collaboration and develop joint measures to eradicate poverty and help build a peaceful, inclusive and prosperous world. These actions are anchored within the framework established by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

France’s International Strategy on Gender Equality and Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy are well aligned, and illustrate the convergence of our respective approaches towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are at the core of our efforts, and cut across shared priorities, including in the areas of inclusive governance, environment and climate change, inclusive and sustainable growth, peace and security, and human dignity.

In 2016, Canada and France agreed, with the adoption of the Enhanced Cooperation Program, to establish a clear and concrete framework on development cooperation and committed to continuing their close collaboration on matters of mutual interest.

The Canada-France Action Plan on International Assistance and Sustainable Development will help achieve concrete results. By leveraging their abilities, knowledge, resources, complementarity and experience, Canada and France will bring about innovative solutions to complex sustainable development challenges. The Annex to this Action Plan, which lists concrete initiatives for joint implementation on the following themes, will be updated annually in accordance with the domestic law and international commitments of each country respectively:

Objective 1:
Establish a regular and in-depth bilateral dialogue on international assistance issues

Canada and France will establish a regular and in-depth bilateral dialogue between the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (Global Affairs Canada), the Agence Française de Développement and other agencies, ministries and departments, as required. This will enable both countries to share experiences, establish best practices and collaborate on joint sustainable development initiatives. Initial discussions will focus on gender equality, climate and biodiversity, and quality and inclusive education in Francophone African countries. The France‑Canada Development Dialogue will take place once a year.

Canada and France will hold targeted consultations, in particular in preparation for the annual Dialogue and to ensure the implementation of its commitments, in order to strengthen collaboration between experts on issues of common interest. Representatives from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Global Affairs Canada, and the Agence Française de Développement can participate in this Dialogue, which will also be open to interested partner organizations. The annual Dialogue and ad hoc consultations will serve to update, by mutual consent, the Annex of this Action Plan, according to changing priorities and actions taken.

Objective 2:
Promote common positions within international forums

Through bilateral consultations in advance of major international conferences and meetings, Canada and France will strive to advance common positions and international actions related to sustainable development, in particular at the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the G20, the G7 and the Executive Boards of the Multilateral Development Banks of which they are shareholders.

Objective 3:
Identify and implement initiatives to advance common priorities

With a view to increasing the effectiveness of international assistance, working in close collaboration with recipient countries and in accordance with their national priorities, Canada and France will aim to seek complementarity between their respective projects in the same geographical areas or thematic sectors. Canada and France will also work on co-funding opportunities for ongoing projects and activities and/or new projects and development activities.

This Action Plan may be implemented on the date of its signature and may subsequently be amended by mutual consent.

For the Government of Canada
Marie-Claude BIBEAU
Minister of International Development and La Francophonie

For the Government of the French Republic
Jean-Baptiste LEMOYNE
Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

Annex

Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Girls: Canada and France may collaborate to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s economic empowerment, the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, and increase access to health and nutrition services.

Promote Women’s Economic Empowerment

Opportunities for collaboration:

• Propose joint programs through the Agence Française de Développement’s Digital Africa platform and put in place a competition on digital creation and innovation to support sustainable development in Africa.
• Support technology-based start-ups, in particular those that are headed by women in African countries, and help them overcome legal, infrastructure and financial barriers;
• Promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls through the Open Government Partnership’s Trust Fund managed by the World Bank;
• Explore avenues of collaboration to support women’s literacy programs associated with professional skills development programs, in particular in the Sahel;
• Cooperate on programs to stimulate women’s employment and entrepreneurship in the formal and informal sectors, including improving working conditions, supporting businesses and reducing/redistributing unpaid care and domestic chores.

Advance the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

Opportunities for collaboration:

• Promote the Elsie Initiative on Women in Peace Operations;
• Share knowledge and promote research, policies, programs and practices on gender‑related issues in the prevention and fight against violent extremism and terrorism;
• Explore avenues for joint collaboration to support local women’s organizations and networks with the aim of achieving gender equality and respect for women’s and girls’ human rights in fragile and conflict-affected states;
• Explore avenues for joint collaboration to promote the fight against sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Improve Health And Nutrition For Women, Children And Adolescents

Opportunities for collaboration:

• Carry out joint outreach and policy development activities in support of the Women Deliver Program focused on the health, rights and wellbeing of women and girls;
• Take action on the health and nutrition of women, children and adolescents locally, nationally and regionally in Francophone Africa;
• Explore joint activities on nutrition for adolescents through support to key organizations.

Promote Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Opportunities for collaboration:

• Work jointly to raise awareness and support communication activities to improve women’s access to abortion while strengthening international mechanisms, such as the annual She Decides Conference;
• Organize joint events to promote gender equality, the elimination of child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) and women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
• Advance common positions within the Ouagadougou Partnership and seek complementarity between donors, with the objective of increasing the number of women using family planning services to at least 2.2 million by 2020 in the nine Francophone countries in West Africa;
• Share knowledge and lessons learned in support of France’s role as host of the next conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in 2019.

Environment and Climate Change: Canada and France may collaborate to fight climate change through the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Canada-France Climate and Environment Partnership.

Preserve the Environment and Fight Climate Change

Opportunities for collaboration:

• Organize a joint activity related to Sustainable Development Goal 13 on climate change on the margins of a meeting on the 2030 Agenda, such as the High-Level Political Forum or the Forum on Financing for Development (to be confirmed);
• Explore opportunities for collaboration on establishing a range of international climate resilience instruments, in particular in the Caribbean and in Africa. This could include climate risk prevention and reduction tools in different sectors, such as the Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative, and financial protection through the African Risk Capacity. This could also include the organization of a regional meeting in the Caribbean to encourage climate resilience;
• Explore opportunities for collaboration to support the implementation of the Gender Action Plan of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted at COP 23;
• Examine new approaches to climate resilience, such as the development of ‘disaster sensitive’ sovereign lending practices, creating new public funding management practices, and expanding climate-related risk insurance for vulnerable countries and populations;
• Advance the areas of cooperation listed in the Canada-France Climate and Environment Partnership, such as supporting the training of Francophone negotiators from African countries to participate in the UNFCCC process.

Education: Canada and France may collaborate to improve basic education, higher education and vocational training for all, in particular to promote the empowerment of women and girls in developing countries and fragile and conflict-affected states.

Promote Women’s and Girls’ Access to High-Quality Education in Developing Countries and Fragile and Conflict-Affected States

Opportunities for collaboration:

• Work jointly to raise awareness about the quality of and access to education for girls, including approaches to innovative funding and vocational training opportunities. This includes monitoring the G7’s prioritization of the quality of and access to education for women and girls in emergency situations and in fragile and conflict-affected states;
• Support dialogue related to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), including funding and risk management to ensure better results and greater focus on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;
• Work together to ensure that the Francophonie’s Gender Equality Strategy, which will be adopted at the Francophonie Summit in Yerevan, is implemented in a timely manner through the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, its subsidiary bodies, including the Institut de la Francophonie pour l’Education et la Formation, and all institutions of La Francophonie. The Strategy could guide their actions and interventions, particularly in key areas such as education, training, higher education, and research;
• Strengthen partnership and advocacy in the fight against gender violence in schools.

Development Innovation: Canada and France will promote innovation in policy development through new operational models, strategic practices, partnerships, funding sources and mechanisms, technology and behavioural data that will empower and benefit poor populations in developing countries. Their collaboration in development innovation will be used as a way to bring about necessary changes to attain the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Find Innovative Solutions to Development Challenges

Opportunities for collaboration:

• Propose joint programs through the Agence Française de Développement and the International Development Research Centre, with the aim of establishing data innovation laboratories in the Global South. These programs could seek to develop and strengthen local capacities to influence and actively assess policy interventions in the transportation, economic development, health and environmental sectors;
• Disseminate knowledge on innovative funding mechanisms that encourage collaboration, including training on new innovative funding partnerships, and that promote gender equality and create opportunities for the poorest and most vulnerable;
• Support innovative funding mechanisms that promote and increase resources for health and nutrition and strengthen the voices of women and girls;
• Support the work of the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development as a multilateral forum for discussing innovative funding for development to advance the Addis Ababa Action Agenda;
• Explore avenues for joint collaboration to advance the G7’s priorities in the area of innovative funding for development.