The reasons behind the AVSF-GRET Alliance

In 2022, AVSF and GRET created an Alliance to strengthen their cooperation. These two development NGOs had already been working together for a number of years as members of Groupe initiatives, and on projects conducted together in West Africa, Asia, Haiti and Madagascar. With this Alliance, AVSF and GRET intend to pool their resources and acquire greater capacity to address major challenges at local and international level, such as inclusion and empowerment of the most vulnerable populations on the planet, the climate emergency and ecological transition, biodiversity conservation, solutions for young people, and the growth of the social and solidarity economy.

Working across 4 continents, the GRET-AVSF Alliance aims to become a major international solidarity actor and to respond even more effectively to the global challenges of sustainable development, climate change and social justice. It is structured around enhanced operational collaborations: development of sectors of activity, innovations and new geographies, coordinated support to the two NGOs’ national partners, mobilisation of innovative funding, and increased action and capacity for influence and advocacy to generate solutions.  

Its vision

“This Alliance aims to become a major actor in international solidarity, cooperation and development, recognised for its professionalism, its capacity to innovate, its technical expertise, its longstanding presence in partner countries, and the impact of its action”, says Henry de Cazotte, chairperson of GRET.

“The originality of this alliance is the complementarity our organisations share to constantly provide solutions that are best suited to populations’ needs, and – together with international civil society – to produce innovative proposals to influence development and cooperation proposals. In an uncertain international context, this institutional adaptation is crucial for the continuity and relevance of our actions” says Barbara Dufour, chairperson of AVSF.

Its skills and areas of action

Promotion of smallholder farming, and fair, sustainable agrifood value chains and systems

Defence of healthy food and good quality healthcare for all, working towards one health for animals, human beings and the environment

Support for collective, sustainable management of natural resources and commons, defence of shared, secured access to land and resources, and conservation of biodiversity

Promotion of universal access to essential services in cities and rural areas

Contribution to the development of responsible economy and finance, for the most vulnerable in society, creation of social and solidarity economy entities

Innovation of vocational training, for the creation of decent employment for all, and opportunities young people in rural and urban areas

Contribution to greater resilience of territories to deal with natural catastrophes and armed conflicts

Key figures in 2023

The Alliance budget: 69.5 M€

Number of employees: 1,089 professionals

Number of countries of intervention: 36: Argentina, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Vietnam, Zambia.

Alliance news

• In 2025, the Alliance is launching a new foresight project on a key issue: the integration of the private sector in cooperation projects. What opportunities does this offer? What limits does it impose? How should our NGOs adapt to this development? The private sector is playing an increasingly important role in certain cooperation initiatives. Today, public and private development players – including the European Union – are encouraging greater synergy with businesses. On the strength of its experience with traditional and social economy companies in Europe and the South, the Alliance intends to refine its strategy and structure its partnerships for the coming years.
  
• In 2024, the Alliance is stepping up its cooperation on high-impact projects
  Tambatra – Madagascar: launch of the 2nd phase of the project to improve food and nutritional security in rural areas near Antananarivo, with the support of the Monegasque Cooperation.
  Côte d’Ivoire: launch of joint support with INADES for the development of sustainable cocoa farming and the setting up of biofactories, financed by AFD.
  In preparation for 2025: co-identification of ambitious programmes for innovative family farming, capable of meeting the challenges of biodiversity, climate and the ‘One Health’ approach.

• During the 1^st half of 2024, the GRET-AVSF Alliance organised extensive consultation with all its national teams on their perception, and that of their partners, of “the location of aid”: how is it perceived and materialised in their country? What are the implications for the ways in which we work and cooperate, improve sharing of decision-making powers, communicate, and manage financial resources with our partners?

• On 1 September 2024, the GRET-AVSF Alliance created its first joint unit for safety risk prevention: a single team was set up at the two NGOs’ headquarters to respond to the needs of the AVSF and GRET teams in terms of training, support and advice, audit of safety protocols and rules in all countries of cooperation, and definition of a common general policy on safety.

AVSF website: https://www.avsf.org/