Conclusions of the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian met with the other G7 Foreign ministers in Dinard and Saint Malo on 5 and 6 April 2019.

The Foreign ministers addressed the core issues involved in fighting inequality around the world:

• providing joint responses to international security challenges, particularly terrorism and trafficking, and the major regional crises, which weaken societies and hit the most vulnerable hardest;
• strengthening our democracies in the face of new threats, mainly arising from the digital revolution and attempted foreign interference. The commitments made in the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace of November 2018 was discussed.
   

A specific session was devoted to Africa, a priority of France’s G7, where the ministers discussed the international community’s action to support African peace operations and to fight trafficking in the Sahel region. Reducing gender inequality was a focus of discussions on such topics as protecting women from sexual violence in conflicts and strengthening the role of women in peace processes and crisis resolution.

International organizations were fully involved in the ministers’ discussions on Africa. Other participants include Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the African Union, and Leïla Zerrougui, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, and Marie Cervetti – both members of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council – also attended the meeting.

Ahead of the Biarritz Summit to be held from 24 to 26 August, the foreign ministers came up with proposals for fighting inequality, reducing threats and strengthening democracy.

A ministers’ meeting recognized for its involvement in terms of sustainable development.

The G7 Foreign Affairs Ministers’ meeting, which took place on April 5th and 6th at Dinard and Saint-Malo, obtained the ISO 20121 certification, issued by « AFNOR Certfication ». It is an international norm related to sustainable development carried out in the events sector, and enables to put forward a management system which is able to organize responsible events, with the objective to decrease, if not remove, potential negative impacts.

Environmental and social exemplarity is one of the main focuses of the French Presidency of the G7. In addition, as a continuation of the COP21/Paris Climate 2015, the G7 Secretariat General is committed to obtain the ISO 20121 « Certification for responsible management system applied to event activity », and thus bring form and substance together. A framework of shared values was adopted: exemplarity, sobriety, coherence, openness. The sustainable development challenges were identified: fight against all forms of inequalities, control the carbon footprint, and create a lasting dynamic, through the continuity of the best practices undertaken, both internally and for all stakeholders. These objectives were integrated to the sustainable development policy of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and applied in the organization of the Ministers’ meeting at Dinard and Saint-Malo.

The French Europe and Foreign Affairs Minister encouraged all of its providers related to the management of staff and equipment to take these objectives into account, as a step towards continuous improvement and the promotion of local actors. In that way, concrete measures have been undertaken in favor of circular economy (no single-use plastic, equipment reutilization); gender equality, with the obtention of a specific AFNOR label «Equality large event » (seeking parity for the staff in charge of organizing and welcoming); and with the aim to make these good practices last in the long-run in the region, in close cooperation with Dinard and Saint-Malo’s local authorities, providers and civil society representants.