La Francophonie

La Francophonie (occasionally in English Francophony, formally l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie), a French language term coined in 1880 by French geographer Onésime Reclus to designate the community of people and countries using French, is an international organisation of French-speaking countries and governments. 49 states and governments are members of the organisation, four others (Albania, Andorra, Greece, Republic of Macedonia) are associate members, and ten additional states (Armenia, Austria, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia) are invited observers of its Summits. French is at least a minor language in all its member states, and is in fact the sole major language of only a few.

Structure

L'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie has an observer status at the UN General Assembly.

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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.

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Past Summits:

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• Paris, France (1986)
• Quebec City, Canada (1987)
• Dakar, Senegal (1989)
• Paris, France (1991)
• Mauritius (1993)
• Cotonou, Benin (1995)
• Hanoi, Vietnam (1997)
• Moncton, Canada (1999)
• Beirut, Lebanon (2002)
• Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (2004)

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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Libreville - Gabon - Lomé - Togo - Hanoi - Vietnam

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