International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF)

1. Basic information

• Date of creation: 20 Mars 1970.
• Founders: Léopold Sédar Senghor (former President of Senegal), Habib Bourguiba (former President of Tunisia), Hamani Diori (former President of Niger), and the Prince Norodom Sihanouk, King father of Cambodia.
• Headquarter: Paris (France).
• Members: 84 Member States and Governments (54 full Members by right, 4 associate members and 26 observers).
• Objectives: Its mission is to build the active solidarity between its member states and governments, to contribute improving the standard of living of its populations. It supports theirs members in the elaboration or the consolidation of their politics and carry out the activities of international politics and multilateral cooperation, in accordance with the four major missions drawn up by the Francophonie Summit :
  • Promote the French language and the cultural and linguistic diversity
  • Promote Peace, Democracy and Human Rights
  • Support Education, Formation, Higher education and Research
  • Develop cooperation for sustainable development.
• The Estimation of francophones in 2014: About 274 million people can be defined as francophones. In South-East Asia, in Cambodia, 423,000 Francophones, representing 0.02% of its population; in Laos, 190,000 Francophones, representing 0.03%; in Vietnam, 654,000 Francophones, representing 0.006%.

2. Within the framework of OIF

The Secretary General of La Francophonie is the top responsible for OIF. Mrs. Michaëlle JEAN was appointed to this position by the Francophonie Summit in 2014, in Dakar (Senegal). The Administrator is appointed by Secretary General. He is in charge of executing and managing the cooperation of OIF. Mr. Adama Ouane has been in this position since April 2015. The OIF is placed under the authority of 3 political entities: The Summit, the supreme organ of La Francophonie which meets every two years, the Francophonie Ministerial Conference (CMF) and the Permanent Council of La Francophonie (CPF). The OIF has :

• 4 permanent representatives :
  • in Addis Ababa, to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,
  • in Brussels, with the European Union,
  • in New York and Geneva, to the United Nations.
• 6 regional offices :
  • in Lomé (Togo) for West Africa,
  • in Libreville (Gabon) for Central Africa,
  • in Hanoi (Vietnam) for the Asia-Pacific Region ;
  • in Port-au-Prince (Haiti) for pour the Caribbean and Latin America
  • in Bucharest (Romania) for the Central and Eastern Europe
  • in Antananarivo (Madagascar) for the Indian Ocean

3. Along with OIF

The OIF acts in synergy with the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (APF), the four specialized operators, namely the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), TV5, the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), the Université Senhor d’Alexandrie; as well as with the two permanent ministerial conferences : the Conference of Ministers of National Education (Confémen) and the Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sports (Conféjes).

4. Cambodia and OIF

• In November 1991: observer member, at the 4^th Francophonie Summit in Chaillot (Paris), France.
• In October 1993: full member by right, at the 5^th Francophonie Summit in Grand-Baie (Mauritius)

5. The upcoming instances of La Francophonie

• The 35^th Ministerial Conference of La Francophonie (CMF) will be held on 8 and 9 October 2018 in Erevan, Armenia.
• The 17^th Summit of La Francophonie will be held on 11 and 12 October 2018 in Erevan, Armenia.

• For more information, please visit the website: francophonie.org