WHAT IS THE FRANCOPHONIE?

The word francophonie appeared for the first time around 1880, when a French geographer,
Onesime Reclus, used it to designate all French speaking people and countries. From that point
forward, francophonie, spelt with a lowercase f, refers to French speakers, and Francophonie,
spelt with a capital F, to represent the institutional mechanism that would facilitate connections
between Francophone countries.

274 million speakers

The francophonie (French speakers) are primarily men and women who share a common
language, in this case French. The latest report by The French Language Observatory, published
in 2014, puts their number of French speakers, across all five continents, at 274 million people.
Since the first decades of the 20th century, Francophones have been aware of the existence of a
shared linguistic space, conducive to mutual exchanges and enrichment. They are comprised of a
multitude of organizations and consolidations who aim to bring to life the French speakers dayto-day routine. Among these organizations, we see professional associations, groups of writers,
networks of bookstores, scholars, journalists, lawyers, non-government organizations, and, of
course, French professors and teachers.

The Institutional Francophonie

Since 1970 and the creations of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT)
now called the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) Francophones are able to
show support for an institutional mechanism destined to further the French language and the
cooperative relations between the 80 states and government members or observers of the OIF.
This mechanism is established by the Francophonie Charter, adapted in 1977 at the Hanoi
Summit (Vietnam) and amended by the ministerial conference in 2005 at Antananarivo
(Madagascar):

The Summit of heads of state and government (The Francophonie Summit), which
gathers every two years, is the uppermost political decision making body.
The Secretary General of the Francophonie is the cornerstone of the mechanism.
Michalle Jean was appointed to this position by The Francophonie Summit in 2014 at
Dakar (Senegal).
The International Organization of the Francophonie applies the multilateral francophone
cooperation to four operatives:
The Francophone University Agency (AUF)
TV5Monde, the international television channel

The Inernational Association of Francophone Mayors

The Senghor University of Alexandria

The Francophonie also have an advisory body: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie
(APF)

Objectives

Missions

The objectives of the Francophonie are compiled The duties of The Francophonie are
in her Charter:
described in a strategic framework:

Establishment and development of the

democracy
Prevention, management and regulation of
conflicts, and support for the rule of law
and human rights
Enhancements of dialogue between culture
and civilizations
Merging of people by their mutual
knowledge
Strengthening of their solidarity through
multilateral cooperation in order to
encourage the development of their
economies
Promotion of learning and education

Advancing the French language as well

as cultural and linguistic diversity
Promoting peace, democracy and human
rights
Supporting development, learning,
higher education and research
Expanding the cooperation for
sustainable development

Special attention is paid to youth and women,

having access to TIC.