With this development, many NGOs will no longer be able to intervene due to lack of resources. The consequences could be disastrous for hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.
Some 184 associations alerted, Thursday September 28, about the suspension of development aid paid by France to Burkina Faso and Niger, with the call for help from French NGOs. The lives of millions of people are at stake.
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These 184 NGOs and associations are grouped together within the Coordination SUD collective and if they are speaking today, it is because they are worried about the possible use of humanitarian aid as a political weapon by France, never before. seen. France usually distributes its aid in two ways. Either it finances infrastructure, roads, bridges, with money that passes through the states or communities concerned, or it engages in action plans with the help of NGOs whose mission is to intervene directly with populations. But usually, when there is a problem, France turns off the first tap to put pressure on the State with which it is angry, but continues to finance the NGOs which distribute humanitarian aid.
Associations will not be able to finish the month
In the Sahel, this is no longer the case, France no longer finances anything and this very much resembles humanitarian blackmail, deplores Manuele Derolez, member of the coordination for Terre solidaire. “This must not become a political weapon, she says. Until now, and this is a French tradition, aid has never been conditional on the situation of the countries.
“We would like to draw attention to the fact that aid must remain oriented towards solidarity.”
Manuele Derolez, member of the coordination for Terre solidaireat franceinfo
VSThis debate does not only concern NGOs. It also affects the world of culture and education.
This suspension of aid will have dramatic consequences on the ground. Cutting subsidies to associations and local civil societies means depriving hundreds of thousands or even millions of people of help. Coordination SUD estimates the shortfall at 200 million Euros. Some associations will not be able to finish the coming month. “The urgency today is that we must ensure that we protect the aid which makes it possible to maintain vital services, education, health, food for populations who are in dramatic humanitarian situations, believes Frédéric Apollin, of Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders, who wants France to review its policy. The urgency is to protect this aid.”
The coordination recalls that the example in Mali where aid was not suspended but cut had a direct impact with the disappearance of many local associations. She also adds that even Europe does not question its support for NGOs and continues to help the nine million people in difficulty in the region.