La Francophonie

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), sometimes shortened to the Francophonie (French: La Francophonie [la fʁɑ̃kɔfɔni] but also called International Organisation of La Francophonie in English language context, is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a lingua franca or customary language, where a significant proportion of the population are francophones (French speakers), or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture.

The organization comprises 88 member states and governments; of these, 54 states and governments are full members, 7 are associate members and 27 are observers. The term francophonie (with a lowercase "f"), or francosphere (often capitalized in English), also refers to the global community of French-speaking peoples,  comprising a network of private and public organizations promoting equal ties among countries where French people or France played a significant historical role, culturally, militarily, or politically. 

Structure: Executive Secretariat (Secretaries-General): The position of Secretary-General was created in 1997 at the seventh leaders' summit held in Hanoi. Canadian Jean-Louis Roy was secretary of the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique from 1989 until the formal creation of the Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie in 1997 with former Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali as the first secretary-general of La Francophonie. Abdou Diouf, the former president of the Republic of Senegal, became Secretary General on January 1, 2003. He was reelected on 29 September 2006, for a second mandate during the Summit of the Francophonie of Bucharest, and elected again in 2010 at the Summit of the Francophonie of Montreux for another mandate which ran until 31 December 2014. At the 2014 summit in Dakar, former Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean was chosen to lead the organization starting in January 2015. The Secretary General of the Francophonie is elected during the Summit, and serves as the spokesperson and the official representative internationally of the political actions of the Francophonie. The Secretary General is responsible for proposing priority areas for multilateral Francophonie actions. His/her job is to facilitate Francophone multilateral cooperation and to ensure that programs and activities of all operating agencies work in harmony. The Secretary General carries out his/her four-year mandate under the authority of the three main institutions of the Francophonie: the Summits, the Ministerial Conference and the Permanent Council.

Summits: The Summit, the highest authority in the Francophonie, is held every two years and gathers the Heads of states and governments of all member countries of the International Organisation of the Francophonie around themes of discussion. It is chaired by the Head of state and government of the host country, and this person assumes that responsibility until the next Summit. By enabling the Heads of state and government to hold a dialogue on all of the international issues of the day, the Summit serves to develop strategies and goals of the Francophonie so as to ensure the organisation's influence on the world scene. Forty-one countries and governments were represented. The conference was an effort to establish ongoing consultations on major issues of the day. It affirmed the role of the French language as a modern tool for progress and intercultural dialogue and sought to convey Francophone solidarity through concrete programs with broad appeal.

Ministerial Conference: The Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie gathers the foreign or francophone affairs ministers of member states and governments every year to ensure the political continuity of the Summit. This conference ensures that the decisions made during the previous Summits are carried out and to plan the next Summit. It also recommends new members and observers to the Summit.

Permanent Council: The Permanent Council of the Francophonie gathers the Ambassadors of the member countries, chaired by the General Secretary of the Francophonie and under the authority of the Ministerial Conference, its main task is to plan Summits. This conference also supervises the execution of the Summit decisions made by the ministerial conferences on a day-to-day basis, about the examination of the propositions of the budget distribution.

Parliamentary Assembly: The objectives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie are to represent to the French-speaking authorities, the interests of the French-speaking communities, to promote the democracy, the rule of law and the respect of human rights. Furthermore, it follows the execution by the operators of the Francophonie of action plans elaborated by the Conference of the members using French as a common language It also favours the cooperation and strengthens the solidarity within the French-speaking communities, mainly towards the parliaments of the South. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie is constituted by member sections representing 77 parliaments or interparliamentary organizations. The Secretary General is the French senator Jacques Legendre.

Agency of the Francophonie: The Agency of the Francophonie is the main operator of the cultural, scientific, technical, economic and legal cooperation programs decided at the Summits. It is also the legal seat of the Secretary General and is used by him as an administrative support. The agency also contributes to the development of the French language and to the promotion of the diverse languages and cultures of its members, while encouraging mutual understanding between them and the Francophonie. For this reason, it is a place of exchange and dialogue and its simultaneous in Francophone countries. The Agency's headquarters are in Paris and it has three regional branches in Libreville, Gabon; Lomé, Togo; and Hanoi, Vietnam.

Members: Mauritania's membership was suspended on 26 August 2008, pending democratic elections, after a military coup d'état. Madagascar's membership was suspended in April 2009 due to unconstitutional transfer of power on 17 March 2009. Mali's membership was also suspended in March 2012 due to a coup d'état, and then the Central African Republic was suspended for instances of la Francophonie at the 88th session of the CPF (March 2012), as well as Guinea-Bissau on 18 April 2012 for the same reason. Thailand, an observer nation, was suspended in 2014 following the 2013–14 political crisis.  In 2018, Louisiana became the first US state to join, as an observer, the only other membership presence in the country being a permanent representative in New York City for the United Nations.  Although Algeria has one of the largest French-speaking communities in the world, it is not a member of the Organization of the Francophonie.

Operating agencies: The International Organization of the Francophonie relies on five operating agencies to carry out its mandate: l’Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF); TV5Monde; l’Association Internationale des Maires Francophones (AIMF); l'Association des Fonctionnaires Francophones des Organisations Internationales (AFFOI); and l’Université Senghor d’Alexandrie.

Assembly of Francophone Civil Servants of International Organisations (AFFOI): Established in 2008 in The Hague, the Assemblée des francophones fonctionnaires des organisations internationales (AFFOI) gathers international civil servants from all international organisations of the world—such as United Nations, the European Commission of the African Union—and coming from the member countries of the Francophonie. Its mission is to support the French language and the linguistic diversity within International Organisations. Every year the association coordinates the day of French language within International Organisations.  It also organizes seminaries to increase awareness about the importance of linguistic, cultural and conceptual diversity. The president is the French international civil servant Dominique Hoppe.

Missions: The International Organization of the Francophonie leads political actions and multilateral cooperation according to the missions drawn by the Summits of the Francophonie. The Summits gather the Heads of states and governments of the member countries of the International Organization of the Francophonie where they discuss international politics, world economy, French-speaking cooperation, human rights, education, culture and democracy. Actions of the International Organization of the Francophonie are scheduled over a period of four years and funded by contributions from its members.  The Charte de la Francophonie defines the role and missions of the organization. The current charter was adopted in Antananarivo, on 23 November 2005. The summit held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 26–27 November 2004 saw the adoption of a strategic framework for the period 2004–2014.

The four missions drawn by the Summit of the Francophonie are:  Promoting French language and cultural and linguistic diversity. Promoting peace, democracy and human rights. Supporting education, training, higher education and scientific research. Expand cooperation for sustainable development. French language, cultural and linguistic diversity

The primary mission of the organization is the promotion of the French language as an international language and the promotion of worldwide cultural and linguistic diversity in the era of economic globalization. In this regard, countries that are members of the Francophonie have contributed largely to the adoption by the UNESCO of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (20 October 2005).  At the national level, there is the problem of promoting the French language within the context of its co-existence with other partner or international languages in most member countries, especially in Africa. Maintaining the relative importance of the status of French is an imperative that requires solidarity and the pooling of means and resources among countries committed to the French language within their respective societies.  The Francophonie has been a pioneer in terms of the recognition of cultural diversity and dialogue of cultures. It must find ways of confronting the trend towards uniformity that accompanies globalization and fostering the preservation and development of cultural diversity.

Peace, democracy and human rights: Similar to the Commonwealth of Nations, the Francophonie has as its stated aims the promotion of democracy and human rights. Following the 3 November 2000 Déclaration de Bamako,  the Francophonie has given itself the financial means to attain a number of set objectives in that regard.  The Francophonie intends to contribute significantly to promoting peace, democracy and support for the rule of law and human rights by focusing on prevention. Political stability and full rights for all, the subject of the Bamako declaration, are considered key to sustainable development.  The Francophonie has chosen to provide its member countries with access to the expertise of its extensive intergovernmental, institutional, academic and non-governmental network with a view to building national capacities, resolving conflict and providing support for ending crises. In recent years, some participating governments, notably the governments of Canada and Quebec, pushed for the adoption of a Charter in order for the organization to sanction member States that are known to have poor records when it comes to the protection of human rights and the practice of democracy. Such a measure was debated at least twice but was never approved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_internationale_de_la_Francophonie