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.
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)
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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. The Val D'Aosta region has a sizable French-speaking minority.
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).
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.
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