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La Francophonie 

Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie
Flag of La Francophonie
Motto
"Égalité, Complémentarité, Solidarité"citation needed
("Equality, Complementarity, 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 governmentsdubious – discuss 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.citation needed 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

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)

Executive Secretariat (Secretaries-general)

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 celebration of the founding of Quebec)

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 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.

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 [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.

Members

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

Mauritania's membership was suspended on August 26, 2008, pending democratic elections, after a military coup.[6]

Country Status Year joined Official language Notes
 Albania member 1999 Albanian approximately 30% of young Albanians choose French as their first foreign language[7]
 Andorra member 2004 Catalan President of France is co-Prince of Andorra
 Belgium member 1970 officially trilingual, French included French is the native language of about 40% of the population. [8]. Belgium's French community is also a member separately.
* Flag of Wallonia Wallonia-Brussels Community member 1980 French official language a community of Belgium with its two components Wallonia (excepting the German speaking Community and Brussels-Capital Region (its French-Speaking majority)
 Benin member 1970 French former French colony
 Bulgaria member 1993 Bulgarian French is spoken by 9% as additional language
 Burkina Faso member 1970 French former French colony
 Burundi member 1970 French former Belgian UN-protectorate
 Cambodia member 1993 Khmer former French colony
 Cameroon member 1991 officially bilingual, French included over 90% of country was a French colony
 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). As of 2004, a government representative from Ontario also attends as part of the Canadian delegation, although Ontario is not yet a participating government in its own right.
*  New Brunswick participating government 1977 officially bilingual, French included province of Canada; former French colony Acadia, New France.
*  Quebec participating government 1971 French province of Canada; former French colony Canada, New France.
 Cape Verde member 1996 Portuguese Former Portuguese colony with many neighboring French-speaking countries.
 Central African Republic member 1973 officially bilingual, French included former French colony
 Chad member 1970 French former French colony
 Comoros member 1977 officially trilingual, French included former French colony
 Democratic Republic of the Congo member 1977 French former Belgian colony
 Republic of the Congo member 1981 French former French colony
 Côte d'Ivoire member 1970 French former French colony
 Djibouti member 1977 officially bilingual, French included former French colony
 Dominica member 1979 English French and then British colony; Antillean Creole, a French-based creole language, is spoken by 90% of the population.
 Egypt member 1983 Arabic traditional Francophone elite
 Equatorial Guinea member 1989 officially trilingual, French included Former Spanish colony surrounded by French-speaking countries.
 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia member 2001 Macedonian
 France member 1970 French
 Gabon member 1970 French former French colony
 Greece member 2004 Greek French is understood and spoken by 8% of the populationcitation needed
 Guinea member 1981 French former French colony
 Guinea-Bissau member 1979 Portuguese country surrounded by French-speaking countries. Former Portuguese colony
 Haiti member 1970 officially bilingual, French included former French colony
 Laos member 1991 Lao former French colony
 Lebanon member 1973 Arabic; French is an administrative language Under a French mandate from 1920-1943, French language used in schools and universities, and is understood by the majoritycitation needed of the population.
 Luxembourg member 1970 Officially trilingual, French included
 Madagascar member 1970-1977
1989		 officially trilingual, French included former French colony
 Mali member 1970 French former French colony
 Mauritania member 1980 Arabic former French colony, French is an administrative language
 Mauritius member 1970 English; French and Creole are recognised regional languages French, then British colony; French-based Mauritian Creole the lingua franca, French is widely spoken and understood
 Moldova member 1996 Romanian
 Monaco member 1970 French former French protectorate
 Morocco member 1981 Arabic former French protectorate; French is commonly used
 Niger member 1970 French former French colony
 Romania member 1993 Romanian French is understood and spoken by 24% of the population [2]
 Rwanda member 1970 officially trilingual, French included former Belgian UN-protectorate
 Saint Lucia member 1981 English Former French and British colony. Antillean Creole, a French-based creole language, is spoken by 90% of the population.
 São Tomé and Príncipe member 1999 Portugues Former Portuguese colony, neighboring French-speaking countries.
 Senegal member 1970 French former French colony
 Seychelles member 1976 officially trilingual, French included former French colony (first empire), later British colony, French is commonly used
 Switzerland member 1996 Officially quadrilingual, French included French is the native language of about 20% of all Swiss.
 Togo member 1970 French former French colony
 Tunisia member 1970 Arabic former French colony; French is commonly used
 Vanuatu member 1979 officially trilingual former French and British condominium
 Vietnam member 1970 Vietnamese former French colony
 Cyprus associate member 2006 Greek French is understood and spoken by 12% of the population;citation needed historical ties through the Lusignan rule of the Kingdom of Cyprus during the Middle Ages.
 Ghana associate member 2006 English country surrounded by French-speaking countries

Observers

Country Year joined Language Notes
 Armenia 2004 Armenian Armenian culture is tied to France via the Franco-Armenian dynasty of the Kingdom of Cilicia during the Middle Ages. See also: Franco-Armenian relations
 Austria 2004 German French is spoken by 10% as additional language.citation needed
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2007 Serbo-Croatian French is widely studied and understood in Bosnia and Herzegovina.citation needed
 Croatia 2004 Croatian French is understood and spoken by 4% of the population, and the county was the Illyrian Provinces during Napoleonic rule in the 1820s.
 Chile 2007 Spanish French is well studied and spoken by upper income elites in addition to a large ethnic French community, the only non-French speaking Latin American observer member.
 Czech Republic 1999 Czech French is understood and spoken by 2% of the population.
 Georgia 2004 Georgian Alike Armenia, the Georgians had a connection with the French kingdoms in the Middle Ages.citation needed
 Hungary 2004 Hungarian French is understood and spoken by 2% of the population.
 Italy 2007 Italian Italy is France's neighbor to the east and the two countries had a strong cultural exchange. French is well studied and understood by large numbers of Italians.citation needed The Val D'Aosta region has a sizable French-speaking minority.citation needed
 Lithuania 1999 Lithuanian French is understood and spoken by 1% of the population, and in World War I the Baltic States was occupied by a French military garrison to protect them from the newly-formed Soviet Union (1918).
 Mozambique 2006 Portuguese former Portuguese colony.
 Poland 1996 Polish Poland has historic ties to France; French is understood and spoken by 3% of the population, and many Polish emigrants settled in France in the 20th century.
 Serbia 2006 Serbian French is taught in one-third of schools.
 Slovakia 2002 Slovak French is spoken by 2% as additional language
 Slovenia 1999 Slovenian French is spoken by 4% as additional languagecitation needed
 Ukraine 2006 Ukrainian

The U.S. state of Louisiana (the small French-speaking Cajun minority in Acadiana) is an observant member with some representation in the Francophonie, the state was formerly part of New France from 1680 to 1767 (the brief period of Spanish rule by New Spain, and again from 1800 to 1803 when the United States annexed Louisiana and the reminder known as the Louisiana Purchase.citation needed

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. ^ "L’OIF suspend la Mauritanie", Radio France Internationale, August 27, 2008
  7. ^ Embassy of France in the US - France / Eastern Europe
  8. ^ 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 19 (Numéro 42): 282. doi:10.1159/000013462. Retrieved on 2007-05-07. “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.” 

See also

External links
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