Michel Vauzelle, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) Region, and Jean-Michel Severino, Chief Executive Officer of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), signed a Partnership Framework Agreement on 9 February 2010 under which they pledge to implement actions presenting common interests in the countries and areas where they both operate.

Under the impetus of the Union for the Mediterranean, AFD and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region aim to cofinance a project “to support development processes in Mediterranean rural regions”. They plan to implement this project in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. It is designed to help actors in these countries improve the relevance and quality of their work in terms of rural development. Operations are expected to take the form of actions for training, research, consulting and expertise.

In Lebanon, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region and the French Global Environment Facility, which is managed by AFD, in partnership with the Ile-de-France Region and the Rhône-Alpes Region, plan to jointly support the creation of three nature reserves. This project has been initiated by Lebanese local authorities and aims to implement actions to preserve biodiversity, manage and develop natural resources and cultural heritage and promote ecotourism.

By signing this Partnership Framework Agreement, the two signing partners will be enhancing their cooperation for international actions, particularly in the water and rail transport sectors.

Due to the increasing economic, financial, technological, cultural and, more fundamentally, human impacts of globalization on regions, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region has for several years been developing an international strategy that aims to promote its influence at the international level and its opening up to the world, in partnership with all the economic and social forces, scientific and cultural actors and the fabric of associations.

The Region mobilizes its competences and expertise in its relations with 16 countries that belong to:

Areas that share with the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region a cultural identity, economic ambitions and environmental concerns where innovation plays a key role: the States of São Paulo (Brazil) and Nuevo Leon (Mexico)
Emerging powers that are increasingly important actors at the global level and, consequently, in the Mediterranean, such as Guangdong Province (China)
Populations that are close to the Region’s population for historical or sociological reasons: Lori Region (Armenia) and Ile de Grande Comore-Ngazidja (Comoros).
In the Mediterranean: Tangiers Tetouan Region (Morocco), Wilaya d’Alger (Algeria), Tunis Governorate (Tunisia), Alexandria Governorate (Egypt), Khan Younis Governorate (Palestinian Territories), City of Haifa (Israel), Federations of the municipalities of Jezzine and Tyr (Lebanon), Governorates of Aleppo and Latakia (Syria), Izmir Region (Turkey)

Within this framework, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region has made the Mediterranean a priority by developing an Action Plan for the Mediterranean that aims to give a comprehensive dimension to an active bilateral cooperation policy based on a regional approach to development.

The Region’s strategy is in line with a partnership-based approach that aims to build synergies and mutualize resources with other French and European regions, specifically within the framework of the Alps-Mediterranean Euroregion, to be complementary to the actions of the French State via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its representations and agencies abroad, and to build partnerships with European institutions and United Nations agencies.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD), a public establishment, has been combating poverty and promoting development in South countries and Overseas France for over sixty years in the framework of France’s Official Development Assistance mechanism.

AFD is active in the field in over 60 countries and Overseas France and finances and supports projects to improve living conditions for populations, boost economic growth and protect the planet: getting children into school, supporting farmers and small companies, providing water supply, preserving tropical forests, combating climate change…

In 2008, AFD earmarked 4.5 billion euros to finance operations in South countries and Overseas France. Thanks to this financing, 7 million children were able to go to school and 4.4 million people gained access to water supply. Energy efficiency projects for the same year will save 3.3 million tons of CO2 annually.

Press relations

AFD
Laure Weisgerber, weisgerberl@afd.fr - Tel.: 33.1.53.44.30.57
Anne-Sophie Morizot (Hopscotch), asmorizot@hopscotch.fr – Tel.: 01.58.65.00.88

PACA Region

Charlotte Gigout, cgigout@regionpaca.fr
- Tel.: 33.6.74.93.32.01

Common projects

Le contenu des partenariats AFD – collectivités françaises est très divers, selon la nature du projet :

- le plus souvent, la collectivité française apporte à la collectivité bénéficiaire une assistance à la maîtrise d’ouvrage, pour la mise en oeuvre du projet, ce qui permet un transfert de savoir-faire qui se poursuit après la fin du financement du projet ;

- un appui institutionnel, entre collectivités, confrontées aux mêmes réalités de la gestion locale, pour l’organisation et la gestion des services, la formation des élus, l’amélioration des méthodes et procédures etc ;

- un apport d’expertise (coopération intercommunale, transports publics, gestion des marchés…), qui se fonde sur les compétences spécifiques de la collectivité française partenaire ;

- un renforcement des capacités (formation, stages) ;
- une assistance technique.

In headline

Les Partenariats AFD - Collectivités Locales Françaises

La décentralisation est devenue une tendance lourde de l’organisation institutionnelle ; elle se traduit, notamment dans les pays dans lesquels l’Agence Française de Développement (AFD) intervient, par une montée en puissance des collectivités locales comme acteurs clés de la gouvernance publique. Les orientations retenues par le gouvernement français pour l’aide publique au développement ont particulièrement souligné l’importance de la gouvernance publique, et, notamment, le renforcement de la gouvernance locale.

>> Télécharger le guide

Press contacts

AFD
Laure Weisgerber, weisgerberl@afd.fr
Anne-Sophie Morizot (Hopscotch), asmorizot@hopscotch.fr

Région PACA

Charlotte Gigout, cgigout@regionpaca.fr