AFD - Universal Registration Document 2020

STATEMENT OF NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE Ameaningful work environment

2.8 Ameaningful work environment

all head office and network employees who wish to talk about a problem or have a question about ethics (112 consultations in 2020, almost a third of which were for network employees). Although the Adviser preserves the anonymous nature of these consultations, he communicates with Senior Management and reports as necessary to the AFD and Proparco Boards of Directors, and also to their specialised committees. In addition, the Ethics Adviser supervises the AFD system for managing environmental and social complaints. Lastly, since January Ǿ 2019, it has been the point of entry for AFD Group’s professional whistleblowing system. The ethical method seeks to be attractive and appealing, by adopting a positive and constructive educational approach. This approach stimulates individual and collective questions, reinforces the desire to act in a correct manner, and encourages the demand for compliance. In the summer of 2020, Senior Management decided to appoint the internal mediator, who is also an ethics adviser, and to entrust her with a task of reflecting on the AFD Group’s ethics system and the synergies between the two functions. 2.8.2 Skills development, employability Ǿ and training As is the case for many organisations, the Covid-19 health crisis has significantly disrupted training practices and thwarted the roll-out of the AFD Group’s annual skills development plan. But the year 2020 also helped to revitalise the training activity by refocusing the offer on the immediate challenges of the business lines and employees, and by remarkably accelerating the adoption of distance learning. It is therefore in the light of these disruptions and these transformations that the very singular results of the training activity in 2020 should be considered, beyond the usual quantitative indicators. With a start to the year marked by strikes and the implementation of the first lockdown, the 2020 training report shows, unsurprisingly, indicators trending down. The total number of training hours taken by employees fell by 55% between 2019 and 2020, dropping from 66,012 hours to 29,636 hours (2) . This significant decrease is primarily due to the cancellation of all face-to-face training (3) from mid-March to the end of 2020. It is also due to the fact that the transposition to a remote training offer, undertaken in April, could not be applied to a significant number of actions or training cycles. Certain programmes are based on immersion experiences, requiring travel - to the head office for network employees (World Seminar), to the network for head office employees (“Development Professions” cycle), or even regionally (sectoral

The AFD Group strives to promote a responsible approach in its internal operations and to provide its employees with an inclusive and rewarding work environment. This approach constitutes one of the six commitments in its corporate social responsibility policy. The Group encourages employee dialogue and offers its employees the most favourable working conditions possible to develop their skills and pursue interesting and motivating career paths, while preserving a balance between their private and professional life. 2.8.1 The ethics system The AFD Group is well aware of the strong demands associated with its public service mission in French Overseas Departments and Collectivities and Foreign Countries, and in 2004 decided to put in place an ethics system. It consists of a Charter, a Committee and an Ethics Adviser. The Ethics Charter was written in 2004 and updated in 2012. It defines (1) a common ambition for the Group and its employees, guidelines for behaviour and commitments consistent with its triple status as a development agency, a financial institution and a public body. The Charter “aims to reinforce the identity, unity and performance of the institution (…) and also to protect the Group and its employees against any reputational risk” (Article Ǿ 1). It applies to every employee, regardless of their business line, hierarchical position or duties. It promotes commitment, integrity, openness and adaptability as the Group’s four key values (Articles Ǿ 11 to 15). A copy of the Charter is given to new recruits when they sign their employment contract. The Ethics Committee meets at least six times every year. It is chaired by the Chief Operating Officer of AFD. The other members are the representatives of each Executive Department of AFD (7), Proparco, the personnel (CSE: Social and Economic Committee) and the Ethics Adviser. On the strength of the many business lines it represents, it gives Senior Management and the Group the benefit of its discussions and recommendations on operational ethical subjects that it identifies or that are submitted to it. The Ethics Adviser runs training/awareness-raising sessions for new recruits and employees soon to be assigned to the network (the network comprises almost one hundred AFD or Proparco departments/local offices/offices). As such, 23 in-house ethics sessions were held in 2020, involving 455 Ǿ employees. He participates in regular discussions about ethics with all the head office teams and visits several network teams every year (outside the current health context). He meets regularly with Senior Management and the members of the Executive Committee. He can be contacted directly by all Group employees. The Adviser welcomes, listens and gives confidential advice to

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(1) https://www.afd.fr/fr/ressources/charte-ethique-du-groupe-afd (2) General training effort, for all audiences (general managers, local managers, international volunteers, interns and staff seconded to AFD). (3) Face-to-face training was banned from mid-March Ǿ 2020 and for the rest of the year, with the exception of safety training for employees who had to travel to sensitive areas as part of a professional assignment.

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2020 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT