182 NGOs demonstrate in Paris to protest against the budget cuts announced on development aid

The 2025 Budget provides for a reduction of two billion euros in aid intended for poor countries. These non-governmental organizations, united within the Coordination Sud, demonstrated in Paris on Tuesday.

They fear the “domino effect”: when the first falls, it brings the others with it… Nearly 200 NGOs were mobilized in Paris, Tuesday, November 19, to defend development aid budgets. A question of life and death for some of them and especially for hundreds of thousands of people around the world who depend on them.

The 2025 draft budget provides, in fact, for a drastic reduction in aid intended for poor countries. More than a third of the budget would thus be eliminated, or around two billion. A policy which will not be without impact on the ground.

Two billion less, or 30% of development aid, this means NGOs in difficulty but above all people who will be left on the side of the road around the world, explains Pauline Pruvost, of Solidarités international: “It is above all a story of life or death for the people we help. Our operations are carried out in contexts of crises, natural disasters, forced displacements.”

Endangerment of populations and political misconduct, adds Adrien Sallez of ASMAE, Sister Emmanuelle's NGO: “Retrofit is neither development, nor solidarity, nor happiness. We need others to develop and that also has an interest economically, politically, societally, both for Europe and for France . So, it’s a mistake to move backwards on these issues.”

And what about the promise of France which had committed to devoting 0.7% of its wealth to its foreign aid? A rate never reached and a commitment not kept, deplores Laura Audouard, of the NGO Plan international: “President Emmanuel Macron has spoken on a number of occasions calling for a financial shock for development at the United Nations, asking for more money from States. It is time that today, France keeps his word on the international stage.”

Finally, we can be directly concerned about the survival of certain NGOs: the sector employs 50,000 people in France.