La Francophonie, or
the Francophonie, is an international organization of polities and governments with
French as the mother or customary language, wherein a significant proportion of people are
francophones (French speakers) or where there is a notable affiliation with the French language or
culture.
Formally known as the
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (
OIF) or the
International Organization of the Francophonie, the organization comprises 56 member states and governments, 3 associate members, and 14 observers.
Francophonie may also refer, particularly in French, to the global community of French-speaking peoples, comprising a network of private and public organizations promoting special ties among all Francophones. The prerequisite for admission to the Francophonie is not the degree of French usage in the member countries, but a prevalent presence of French culture and language in the member country's identity, usually stemming from France's colonial ambitions with other nations in its history. Few of the member states are majority French-speaking, aside from France and its overseas possessions.
French geographer
Onésime Reclus, brother of
Élisée Reclus, coined the word
Francophonie in 1880 to refer to the community of people and countries using the French language.
Francophonie was then coined a second time by
Léopold Sédar Senghor, founder of the
Négritude movement, in the review
Esprit in 1962, who assimilated it into
Humanism.
The modern organization was created in 1970. Its
motto is
égalité, complémentarité, solidarité ("equality, complementarity, and solidarity"),
alluding to
France's
motto. Started as a small club of northern French-speaking countries, the Francophonie has since evolved into a global organization whose numerous branches cooperate with its member states in the fields of culture, science, economy, justice, and peace.
Structure
:For the official structure, see the flow chart given on the OIF website: http://www.francophonie.org/doc/txt-reference/organigramme_2007.pdf
The Francophonie has an observer status at the
UN General Assembly. It has been renamed a few times since its founding:
*20 March 1970: Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation (ACCT) (Agence de coopération culturelle et technique).
March 20 is now commemorated by the organization itself as the International Day of the Francophonie (Journée internationale de la Francophonie), also informally known as "The Celebration of the Francophonie"(la fête de la Francophonie).
*4 December 1995: Intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie (Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie)
*December 1998: International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie)
Executive Secretariat (Secretaries-general)
Summits
Summits of the Francophonie (often referred by the English media as the "Fraceyonly") are held every two years, at which time the leaders of the member states have an opportunity to meet and develop strategies and goals for the organization.
Past Summits:
- Quebec City, Quebec (Canada) (17-19 October 2008) (part of the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of Quebec)
Next summit:
Ministerial conferences
Permanent council
The Permanent Council of the Francophonie consists of
Ambassadors of the member countries, and, like the ministers' conferences, its main task is to plan future summits and also to supervise the implementation of summit decisions on a day-to-day basis.
Intergovernmental agency
The Intergovernmental Agency of the Francophonie is the main operator of the cultural, scientific, technical, economic and legal cooperation programs decided at the Summits. The Agency's headquarters are in Paris and it has three regional branches in
Libreville,
Gabon;
Lomé,
Togo; and
Hanoi,
Vietnam.
Missions
The
Charte de la Francophonie defines the role and missions of the organization. The current charter was adopted in
Antananarivo, on November 23, 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.
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 globalisation. 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 (October 20, 2005).
Peace, democracy and human rights
Similar to organization such as the
Commonwealth of Nations, the Francophonie has as its stated aims the promotion of
democracy and
human rights. Following the November 3rd 2000
Déclaration de Bamako , the Francophonie has given itself the financial means to attain a number of set objectives in that regard.
In recent years, some participating governments, notably the governments of Quebec and Canada, 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.
Members
The official list of members is available at the .
Mauritania's membership was suspended on August 26, 2008, pending democratic elections, after a
military coup d'état.
Associate Member
Observers
Significant Non-members
Some countries or regions are not members of the OIF ("La Francophonie"), but are French-speaking or have significant French history and so are considered part of the francophone world ("La francophonie").
See also
