Open letter: «Don’t cut Official Development Aid budgets»

The presidents of the three French associations of local and regional governments which are partners of PLATFORMA – the French Association of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (AFCCRE), Cités Unies France (CUF) and the International Association of French-speaking Mayors (AIMF) – express their deep concern regarding Official Development Aid (ODA) future budget cuts in an open letter to French Prime Minister François Bayrou and Members of Parliament.

While budgetary negotiations are reopening in France following the change of government, the Mayors of Sceaux Philippe Laurent (AFCCRE), Montpellier Michaël Delafosse (CUF) and Paris Anne Hidalgo (AIMF) remind that more than 3,000 French local governments are involved in territorial partnerships with their counterparts in over 120 countries.

They stress: “It is now recognised that almost 70% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the Summit of the Future reminded us as our framework for action, will only be achieved through local implementation, here and elsewhere.”

The presidents continue: “Decentralised cooperation is an essential lever for strengthening the institutions of local governments which we know is essential if we are to achieve the 2030 Agenda.”

They later remind that “in a sensitive international context, the international commitment of local governments and their representative associations is a way of complementing state diplomacy.”

The presidents further write that “French local and regional governments are also key players in European neighbourhood policy, particularly with a view to the accession to the European Union of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, which France strongly supports.”

Worryingly, this open letter of the French associations reflects concerns expressed by many PLATFORMA partners on budget cuts to development funds in many European countries.