Francophonie

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Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie
Flag of La Francophonie
Motto
"Égalité, Complémentarité, Solidarité"
(literally "equality, complementarity, and solidarity"), alluding to France's motto
Location of La Francophonie
Members and participants of La Francophonie. In addition to countries, Belgian and Canadian subdivisional memberships are also represented.
Headquarters Paris, France
Official languages French
Membership 53 member states
2 associate members
13 observers
Leaders
 -  Executive Secretary Abdou Diouf
Establishment 1970

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La Francophonie is an international organisation of French-speaking countries and governments and, in French, the community of French-speaking peoples[1]. Formally known as the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) or the International Organization of La Francophonie[2], the organisation comprises fifty-five member states and governments and thirteen observers. The prerequisite for admission is not the degree of French usage in the member countries, but a prevalent presence of French culture and French language in the member country's identity, usually stemming from France's interaction with other nations in its history. Few of the member states are majority French-speaking aside from France and its overseas possessions, and sub-national members. French functions in several other member states as a common language while having little current presence in the other members, being that the links are mainly historical and cultural.

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. In addition to referring to the international organisation, Francophonie may also be used to reference the worldwide community of those people whose native language or second language is French (i.e., the French Sprachraum). 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 to Humanism.[3][4]

The modern Francophonie 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, it has since evolved into a global organisation whose numerous branches cooperate with its member states in the fields of culture, science, economy, justice, and peace.

Contents

[edit] 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 international 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 Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF) (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie)

[edit] Executive Secretariat (Secretaries-general)

[edit] Summits

Summits of the Francophonie 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 organisation.

Past Summits:

Future summit:

  • Quebec City, Canada (17-19 October 2008) (part of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City)

[edit] Ministerial conferences

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Missions

The Charte de la Francophonie defines the role and missions of the organisation. The current charter was adopted in Antananarivo, on November 23, 2005. The last summit held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 26-27 November 2004 saw the adoption of a strategic framework for the period 2004-2014.

[edit] 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).

[edit] Peace, democracy and human rights

Similar to organization such as the Commonwealth of Nations, the Francophonie have in its stated aims the promotion of democracy and human rights. Following the November 3rd 2000 Déclaration de Bamako [5], 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 government of Quebec and Canada, pushed for the adoption of a Charter in order for the organisation 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.

[edit] Members

The official list of members is available at the Francophonie website.

Country Status Year joined Language Notes
Flag of Albania Albania member 1999 Albanian official language approximately 30% of young Albanians choose French as their first foreign language[6]
Flag of Andorra Andorra member 2004 Catalan official language President of France is co-Prince of Andorra
Flag of Belgium Belgium member 1970 officially trilingual, French included French is the native language of about 37% of the population. [7]. Belgium's French community is also a member separately.
* Flag of Wallonia French Community of Belgium member 1980 French official language a community of Belgium
Flag of Benin Benin member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria member 1993 Bulgarian official language French is spoken by 9% as additional language
Flag of Burkina Faso Burkina Faso member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of Burundi Burundi member 1970 French official language former Belgian colony
Flag of Cambodia Cambodia member 1993 Khmer official language former French colony
Flag of Cameroon Cameroon member 1991 officially bilingual, French included over 90% of country was a French colony
Flag of Canada Canada member 1970 Officially bilingual, French included the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick are participating governments; much of Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes formed part of former French Colonies (as part of New France and Acadia).
* Flag of New Brunswick New Brunswick participating government 1977 officially bilingual, French included province of Canada; former French colony Acadia, New France.
* Flag of Quebec Quebec participating government 1971 French official language province of Canada; former French colony Canada, New France.
Flag of Cape Verde Cape Verde member 1996 Portuguese official language Former Portuguese colony with many neighboring French-speaking countries.
Flag of the Central African Republic Central African Republic member 1973 officially bilingual, French included former French colony
Flag of Chad Chad member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of the Comoros Comoros member 1977 officially trilingual, French included former French colony
Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo member 1977 French official language former Belgian colony
Flag of the Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo member 1981 French official language former French colony
Flag of Côte d'Ivoire Côte d'Ivoire member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of Djibouti Djibouti member 1977 officially bilingual, French included former French colony
Flag of Dominica Dominica member 1979 English official language former French colony (first empire), later British colony, Antillean Creole a French-based creole language is spoken by 90% of the population.
Flag of Egypt Egypt member 1983 Arabic official language historical Francophone elite
Flag of Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea member 1989 officially trilingual, French included Former Spanish colony surrounded by French-speaking countries.
Flag of the Republic of Macedonia Republic of Macedonia member 2001 Macedonian official language
Flag of France France member 1970 French official language
Flag of Gabon Gabon member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of Greece Greece member 2004 Greek official language French is understood and spoken by 8% of the population
Flag of Guinea Guinea member 1981 French official language former French colony
Flag of Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau member 1979 Portuguese official language country surrounded by French-speaking countries. Former Portuguese colony
Flag of Haiti Haiti member 1970 officially bilingual, French included former French colony
Flag of Laos Laos member 1991 Lao official language former French colony
Flag of Lebanon Lebanon member 1973 French administrative language Under a French mandate from 1920-1943, French language used in schools and universities, and is understood by majority of the population.
Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg member 1970 Officially trilingual, French included
Flag of Madagascar Madagascar member 1970-1977
1989		 officially trilingual, French included former French colony
Flag of Mali Mali member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of Mauritania Mauritania member 1980 Arabic official language former French colony, French is an administrative language
Flag of Mauritius Mauritius member 1970 English official language , French recognised regional language, French-based Creole also a recognised regionnal language former French colony (first empire), later British colony, French-based Mauritian Creole the lingua franca, French is widely spoken and understood
Flag of Moldova Moldova member 1996 Romanian official language
Flag of Monaco Monaco member 1970 French official language former French protectorate
Flag of Morocco Morocco member 1981 Arabic official language former French protectorate, French is commonly used
Flag of Niger Niger member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of Romania Romania member 1993 Romanian official language French is understood and spoken by 24% of the population [2]
Flag of Rwanda Rwanda member 1970 officially trilingual, French included former Belgian colony
Flag of Saint Lucia Saint Lucia member 1981 English official language Former French and British colony. Antillean Creole a French-based creole language is spoken by 90% of the population.
Flag of São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe member 1999 Portuguese official language Former Portuguese colony, neighboring French-speaking countries.
Flag of Senegal Senegal member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of the Seychelles Seychelles member 1976 officially trilingual, French included former French colony (first empire), later British colony, French is commonly used
Flag of Switzerland Switzerland member 1996 Officially quadrilingual, French included French is the native language of about 20% of all Swiss.
Flag of Togo Togo member 1970 French official language former French colony
Flag of Tunisia Tunisia member 1970 Arabic official language former French colony, French is commonly used
Flag of Vanuatu Vanuatu member 1979 officially trilingual former French and British condominium
Flag of Vietnam Vietnam member 1970 Vietnamese official language former French colony
Flag of Cyprus Cyprus associate member 2006 Greek and Turkish official languages French is understood and spoken by 12% of the population[citation needed], historical ties through the Lusignan rule in the Middle Ages (Kingdom of Cyprus).
Flag of Ghana Ghana associate member 2006 English official language country surrounded by French-speaking countries

[edit] Observers

Country Year joined Language Notes
Flag of Armenia Armenia 2004 Armenian official language Armenian culture closely tied to France via the Franco-Armenian dynasty of the Kingdom of Cilicia during the Middle Ages. See also: Franco-Armenian relations
Flag of Austria Austria 2004 German official language French is spoken by 10% as additional language
Flag of Croatia Croatia 2004 Croatian official language French is understood and spoken by 4% of the population
Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 1999 Czech official language French is understood and spoken by 2% of the population
Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 2004 Georgian official language
Flag of Hungary Hungary 2004 Hungarian official language French is understood and spoken by 2% of the population
Flag of Lithuania Lithuania 1999 Lithuanian official language French is understood and spoken by 1% of the population
Flag of Mozambique Mozambique 2006 Portuguese official language former Portuguese colony
Flag of Poland Poland 1996 Polish official language French is understood and spoken by 3% of the population
Flag of Serbia Serbia 2006 Serbian official language French is taught in 1/3 of schools.
Flag of Slovakia Slovakia 2002 Slovak official language French is spoken by 2% as additional language
Flag of Slovenia Slovenia 1999 Slovenian official language French is spoken by 4% as additional language
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine 2006 Ukrainian official language

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ FRANCOPHONIE 18/03/2006, Radio France International
  2. ^ Canada in la Francophonie
  3. ^ Radio France International, February 16, 2006
  4. ^ La France à l’heure de la francophonie culturelle « Saisir du français pour l’imprégner de sa singularité ! », Radio France International
  5. ^ Déclaration de Bamako
  6. ^ Embassy of France in the US - France / Eastern Europe
  7. ^ Ginsburgh, Victor, Université Catholique de Louvain; Weber, Shlomo, Professor Economy and Director of the Center for Economic Studies of the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA, and having a seat in the expert panel of the IMF [1] (June 2006). "La dynamique des langues en Belgique" (in French) (pdf 0.7 MB). Regards économiques, Publication préparée par les économistes de l'Université Catholique de Louvain (Numéro 42). “Les enquêtes montrent que la Flandre est bien plus multilingue, ce qui est sans doute un fait bien connu, mais la différence est considérable : alors que 59 % et 53 % des Flamands connaissent le français ou l'anglais respectivement, seulement 19 % et 17 % des Wallons connaissent le néerlandais ou l'anglais. ... 95 pour cent des Bruxellois déclarent parler le français, alors que ce pourcentage tombe à 59 pour cent pour le néerlandais. Quant à l’anglais, il est connu par une proportion importante de la population à Bruxelles (41 pour cent). ... Le syndrome d’H (...) frappe la Wallonie, où à peine 19 et 17 pour cent de la population parlent respectivement le néerlandais et l’anglais.” 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links