The Francophonie refers to men and women who share a common language: French. We estimate over 321 million French speakers across five continents.
The Francophonie is also an institution, dedicated since 1970 to promoting the French language and political, educational, economic and cultural cooperation among the 88 member countries of the Organisation internationale of la Francophonie (OIF) [International Organisation of La Francophonie].
The Charter of the Francophonie defines the institution; its highest authority, the Summit of the Francophonie; and its cornerstone, the Secretary General of the Francophonie, a position currently held by Louise Mushikiwabo.
The OIF implements multilateral francophone cooperation projects alongside the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie [Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie] and four operating agencies: Agence universitaire de la Francophonie [Association of Francophone Universities], TV5MONDE, Association internationale des maires francophones [International Association of Francophone Mayors], and Université Senghor [Senghor University] in Alexandria.
The Francophonie’s mission mandates are:
To promote the French language and cultural and linguistic diversity;
To promote peace, democracy and human rights;
To support education, training, higher education and research;
To foster economic cooperation to bolster sustainable development.
A great honor to be awarded the 2022 Laureate Prize of Ambassadors of @OIFrancophonie. Thank you for honoring my work & that of the WTO in supporting capacity strengthening of Francophone members to better participate in inclusive & sustainable multilateral trade. @LMushikiwabo