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The Canadian Parliamentary Delegation to the Meeting of the Cooperation and Development Committee of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), held at the FAO Headquarters in Rome from June 8 to 9, 2010, has the honour to present its report. The delegation was composed of Ms. Monique Guay, MP and substitute rapporteur to the Committee, and was accompanied by Mr. François Michaud, the Branch’s Executive Secretary. The
following branches were represented: Belgium (French community of Opening session After calling the Committee to order, the Committee Chair, Mr. Mahama Sawadogo (Burkina Faso), introduced Mr. Hervé Lejeune, Assistant Director-General and Special Adviser to the Director General for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, who then gave a presentation on the FAO. Mr. Lejeune began by saying that world food security is one of the FAO’s primary concerns. The FAO estimates that it would take $44 billion a year to eradicate world hunger, which is a small investment in terms of global funding. Committee business The agenda and the record of decisions of the July 4, 2009, meeting in Paris were adopted unanimously. A word from the Committee Chair The Committee Chair welcomed new members and presented the work the Committee has done since the Paris meeting in July 2009. Presentation and review of draft reports Follow-up on Ouagadougou Summit: La Francophonie’s contribution to adopting national sustainable development strategies and developing national policies on ecosystem and natural resource management The substitute rapporteur, Ms. Monique Guay, MP, on behalf of Mr. Louis Plamondon, MP (Canada), briefed the Committee on the background to this recurring theme. At the 2004 Ouagadougou Summit, the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) was called upon to implement decisions in favour of sustainable development in the Francophone sphere. The OIF included those decisions in its 10-year strategic framework and multi-year programming. Mission D, “developing cooperation to ensure sustainable development and solidarity,” is of particular interest to the Committee. The organization responsible for Mission D is the Institut de l’énergie et de l’environnement de la Francophonie (IEPF), which is attached to the OIF and headquartered in Quebec City. Four years after the programming was implemented (2006–09), the IEPF is making progress in implementing Mission D objectives and activities within the OIF, which are, in many cases, in line with the expectations of this committee and the APF. Ms. Guay said that the 2010–13 programming for Mission D will build on the first four-year period and will strive at reinforcing the progress made from 2006 to 2009. However, the second programming period will have a smaller budget: the OIF budgeted €22,624,000 for the first period, but will only be granting €18,292,000 for the second. The report Ms. Guay presented addressed issues that included biodiversity and improving the relationships between parliaments, government and non-governmental organizations in order to maximize Francophone action for sustainable development, political visibility for the IEPF’s activities and national strategies for sustainable development (NSSD). Ms. Guay concluded by saying that the Committee must continue its work based on the discussions and resolutions at its July 2008 meeting in Quebec City, as well as on the IEPF’s objectives, in order to ensure that its activities are in line with the new four-year programming. A number of people spoke after this report had been presented. Follow-up on international trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Co-rapporteurs Mr. Mahama Sawadogo, Committee Chair, and Mr. Germain Chevarie, MNA (Quebec) and Committee Vice-Chair, presented the report. The Chair briefly went over the international trade negotiations that are part of the Doha Development Agenda, which began in November 2001 under the WTO. The co-rapporteurs emphasized that, regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, the Committee has a duty to follow up and to continue its activities to increase awareness of these important issues among parliamentarians in La Francophonie. The APF must also focus on shaping common positions for La Francophonie in international trade that are guided not only by commercial interests, but also by the principles of equality and solidarity. It is essential for the APF to ensure that the outcome of the trade negotiations does not contravene any commitments made under other international conventions and agreements designed to serve the interests of the people. Ms. Monique Guay added that food safety must be regulated so that products of questionable quality will not be exported. Mr. Sawadogo then showed a video on the Africa Regional Meeting held in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Economic intelligence The rapporteur, Mr. Jean-Pierre Dufau (France), presented his report, a follow-up on the Cotonou and Paris sessions. Governments have a strategic role to play in defining which means should be implemented to maintain their place in the global economy, their autonomy and their people’s standard of living. The purpose of economic intelligence is competitiveness at the service of sovereignty. Mr. Dufau compared economic intelligence in France, Morocco, Quebec and Canada. He concluded by noting that La Francophonie can send a message of economic peace through cooperation and economic intelligence through the sharing of strategic information. Mr. Dufau introduced a draft resolution on the matter. The resolution was amended by the Committee and will be presented to the Committee in Dakar. Economic governance: corporate social responsibility and transparency Ms. Amissétou Affo Djobo Oloude (Benin) spoke on behalf of Mr. André Burri (Jura) and herself, co-rapporteurs on this matter, giving an in-depth presentation on economic governance. Ms. Oloude addressed global governance, with a number of examples from the OECD, the G8, the WTO, the EU, etc. She also spoke about international financial corporations and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. She then gave examples from APF countries including France, Belgium, Valle d’Aosta, Switzerland, Egypt, Gabon, Cameroon, Benin and Canada. She concluded by saying that economic governance in Africa must serve to reduce poverty, more so than in other areas of the world. Therefore, the development and implementation of governance principles must go beyond economic and financial management standards and analyze the issues in light of the expectations and interests of the population. Ms. Oloude introduced a draft resolution on this matter. The report and the resolution will undergo further study. Land title Mr. Jean-Paul Decorps, Chair, Conseil supérieur du notariat français, spoke about securing land title within La Francophonie. The FAO Mr. Luc Guyau, the Independent Chair of FAO’s Executive Council, spoke about the FAO, which has 171 member countries. The Executive Council has 50 members: 49 ambassadors and Mr. Guyau. As Independent Chair, Mr. Guyau is responsible for setting in-house priorities based on decisions made at the Ministerial Conferences every two years. Mr. Guyau believes that food security, sovereignty and self-sufficiency all describe the same reality, which affects the entire world. He told the Committee that 30% to 40% of agricultural production is lost due to insufficient infrastructure. He envisions a strategy in which farmers could support themselves comfortably by farming. Having concluded Committee business, the Chair reminded everyone that the next meeting would take place in Dakar, Senegal. The Canadian Branch is confident that, by presenting a major report and defending its interests, it met all its objectives for this mission. Respectfully submitted,
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