Presentation

"Understanding in order to act, understanding each other in order to act together".

The Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN) is a public institution with an interministerial dimension, placed under the supervision of the Prime Minister. Its mission is to promote a defence culture, help strengthen national cohesion and contribute to the development of strategic thinking on defence and security issues.

IHEDN offers a range of courses:

  • a national sessionThe programme consists of a common core open to all auditors (senior civil or military managers from all sectors of activity) and 5 majors focusing on specific issues: armaments and the defence economy, economic defence and security, maritime issues and strategy, defence policy, digital sovereignty and cybersecurity.
  • European and international sessions
  • Regional sessions
  • Youth cycles
  • Specialised cycles

Activity report

"The new strategic context gives full meaning to the IHEDN's missions". Read the interview with Lieutenant General Benoît Durieux and Prefect Nicolas Basselier, respectively Director and Deputy Director of the IHEDN. 

Our values

COMMITMENT : to encourage and promote the commitment of our auditors to the service of the Nation and the State, as well as their long-term involvement in spreading the spirit of defence in our country.

EXCELLENCE : to provide high-calibre auditors with excellent training, aimed at refining their understanding of defence and security issues and fostering strategic thinking on these complex challenges.

DIVERSITY : to recruit auditors from all spheres of society and from a variety of business sectors, driven by a shared desire to think and act together to defend the country's strategic interests and work to strengthen national cohesion.

OPENNESS TO OTHERNESS : opening up to the otherness of cultures; stimulating questioning; putting oneself in a position to go beyond one's specific sphere of expertise to put one's initial point of view into perspective; decompartmentalising knowledge; bringing together worlds that are often separate and usually don't talk to each other.

SHARE : to encourage the exchange of ideas, the sharing of experience and the pooling of skills; to forge a common defence culture, based on shared values; to weave a network of solid relationships between auditors, united by the same desire to make a lasting commitment to the service of their country.

NEUTRALITY : to ensure, within the various training sessions and cycles, the conditions for freedom of thought and expression conducive to the development of an informed and adversarial debate on defence and security issues, while ensuring compliance with the rules of loyalty, discretion and neutrality that are more particularly implied by military status.

RESPECT FOR CONFIDENTIALITY : demand the confidentiality of the information exchanged, particularly since the lectures given to the audience, whether civilian or military, are subject to the Chatham House Rule.

The gender professional equality at ihedn

Two decrees dated 5 December 2023 introduced a professional equality index in the state civil service (links to the decrees). 2023-1136 and 2023-1137).

The aim is to measure and reduce the pay gap between men and women. All ministries and public establishments with at least 50 employees will have to publish their results in terms of professional equality every year.

For public establishments, the indicators are as follows:

  1. the overall gender pay gap for civil servants
  2. the overall gender pay gap for contract staff
  3. the number of public sector employees of the under-represented sex among the 10 highest paid public sector employees
 

The first two indicators are marked out of 80 points, the weighting depending on the composition of each public institution (at the IHEDN, the proportion of civil servants being 33.4%, the marks are respectively out of 26 points for civil servants and 54 points for contract staff). The third indicator is marked out of 20 points.

The index totals 100 points, with a minimum score of 75/100.

If not, the establishment has three years to improve its score. Failing this, a financial penalty of up to 1% of the total gross annual remuneration of all staff will be applied.

Résultat du calcul de l'index d'égalité professionnelle H/F de l'IHEDN

To calculate the index for 2023, the score obtained by the IHEDN is 90.7 points, broken down as follows:

Maximum initial score IHEDN score
Overall pay gap between female and male civil servants
26
24.7
Overall pay gap between men and women on contract
54
50
Ten highest earners
20
16
Total
100
90.7

IHEDN is Qualiopi certified for ICPF training courses