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Why French?
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French is one of the two languages spoken and learnt in all the continents.
- 200,000,000 French speakers are registered.
- French is one of the six official spoken and working languages of the UN and one of the two of the General Secretary.
- 5% of all Internet pages are written in French.
- French is the official language of 29 International Organisation of Francophony (OIF) member states.
- 68 states belong to the OIF which represents 12.6% of the world population or 803.44 million people.
On 16 January 2008 in Paris, Abdou Diouf, the
Permanent Secretary of Francophony stated: "Integrating Francophony is
not only about sharing a language and values, but also sharing
behaviour on international relations between States, particularly with
regard to relations between the North and South - behaviour based on
respect, listening, and dealing with one as an equal."
Modern Francophony was created in 1970 with the
launch of the OIF, the International Organisation of Francophony. Its
motto is égalité, complémentarité, solidarité (equality,
complementarity and solidarity), alluding to France’s motto. Having
started as a small club of northern French-speaking countries, it has
since evolved into an important international organisation whose
numerous branches cooperate with the organisation’s member states in
the fields of culture, science, economics, justice and peace.
Arts and culture:
- promotion and broadcasting of books
- support for "street arts", "living arts" and "visual arts".
- support for French-speaking press, local radios, movies and television and use of information communication technology
Peace, democracy and human rights:
- support for the consolidation of legally constituted states (justice, parliamentary body…)
- support for Human rights and Citizenship
Education and training:
- support for basic education, professional and technical training
- support for French and national languages teaching
- support for the publication of school textbooks
Economics, energy and environment;
- Assistance with economic policy elaboration
- Support for sustainable development and effective management of its technologies.
As a chief and spoken person of OIF, the permanent secretary leads the
political action. Assisted by an administrator he appointed, he is
responsable of francophonie multilateral cooperation financed by Unique
Multilateral Fund.
OIF is ongoing represented:
_ in Addis-Abeba for African Union and UN Africa Economic Commission
_ in Bruxelles for EU
_ in New York and Geneve for UN
It controls thee subsidiary organisations:
_ International Comitee of Olympic Games
_ Energy and Environment Institute
_ Digital Francophonie Institute
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