AFD - 2019 Universal registration document

STATEMENT OF NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 2 Transparency and dialogue with stakeholders

2.5 Transparency and dialogue with stakeholders

2.5.1 Transparency of funds granted Transparency of funding is a strong corporate and social responsibility challenge for AFD Group. Transparency of AFD’s activities must be guaranteed in compliance with the regulatory requirements associated with its legal status (business secrecy) and protection personal data and individual and public freedoms guaranteed by the French data protection laws. Through this policy of transparency and dialogue (1) , the AFD Group strives to comply with the best practices observed by other sponsors and with international standards, including the standard of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), whilst taking on board the expectations of its stakeholders. This policy aims to contribute to the effectiveness of the aid and to ensure accountability of the AFD Group’s actions, in particular through the transparency of all funding granted, and to help legitimise France’s Official Development Assistance policy. It is based on five principles: usefulness, openness, the Number and% of sovereign projects reported in IATI format protection of trust and sensitive information, attentive listening, and dialogue. Internally, AFD has a legal notice and a procedure for the disclosure of information to provide a framework for implementing transparency and ensuring compliance with the rules applying to confidential information and business secrecy. These information disclosure requests may concern information reported on AFD’s website, AFD’s open data platform, and the IATI registry, or other information on the AFD Group, its strategy, financing transactions and intellectual productions. AFD is continuing to reinforce its policy to publish business data in the IATI format on its open data website (2) . At 31 Ǿ December Ǿ 2019, the published project data covered 66% of sovereign and non-sovereign projects in progress for amounts greater than €100K financed in all the countries where AFD operates. This represents a rise despite the increase in aid associated with the objectives to increase AFD commitments. Number and% of sovereign and non-sovereign projects published in IATI format

2.5.2 Dialogue with stakeholders Under its corporate social responsibility policy, AFD has entered into dialogue with its stakeholders. This dialogue helps take on board the wants and needs of stakeholders and stay as closely tuned to their concerns as possible. The transparency and dialogue policy acknowledges this dialogue with stakeholders as a cornerstone of AFD’s corporate social responsibility approach, insofar as it helps to factor social, environmental, ethical and human rights concerns into the Group’s strategies. The strategic documents prepared by AFD, which determine its areas of operation with respect to sectors, regions and cross-business issues, are subject to stakeholder consultation (civil society organisations, regional government authorities, companies, research institutes, etc.) prior to submission to the Board of Directors. Once approved, these strategic documents are available on AFD’s website. In 2019, AFD launched two digital consultations to enable all its stakeholders to react to the proposals for AFD’s energy transition strategy and partnership strategy. The online consultation concerning the energy transition strategy took place from 17 Ǿ January to 22 Ǿ February Ǿ 2019 and mobilised 243 external participants. The online consultation concerning the partnership strategy took place from 18 Ǿ October to 8 Ǿ November Ǿ 2019 and mobilised 108 external participants. All these contributions were taken into account, summarised and published on the digital consultation platform (3) . This policy also makes dialogue part of an approach fostering continuous improvement, mutual learning, innovation and impact. In this respect, it encompasses more than just information and communication. When investigating and implementing the projects it supports, AFD ensures, through legal conditions and support processes, that the project owner consults with the various stakeholders. For projects with significant environmental and social risks, the Agency applies the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework. Revised in 2016, the Framework now includes measures regarding the responsibility to involve stakeholders at each and every stage of a project. It is essential to engage in dialogue with local authorities, communities and associations regarding projects proposed for funding, in particular those presenting environmental and social risks, to take their opinions and concerns into consideration and thereby improve the living conditions of populations and the sustainability of projects.

Financial aid to be disclosed (number) Financial aid disclosed (number) Financial aid disclosed (%)

1,709

1,124

65.77%

(1) The scope of this policy concerns AFD and its subsidiary Proparco, and provides for specific adaptations for AFD and Proparco. It is available on AFD’s website: https://www.afd.fr/fr/politique-de-transparence-et-de-dialogue-du-groupe-afd. (2) http://afd.opendatasoft.com/. (3) https://en.consultation-numerique.afd.fr.

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UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2019

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