Taking a useful Francophonie further, higher and stronger

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France welcomed nearly fifty French-speaking heads of state and government from all continents to Villers-Cotterêts and Paris, on October 4 and 5, 2024, on the occasion of the 19th^e Francophonie Summit.

On the sidelines of political meetings, French-speaking cultures and know-how were highlighted from October 2 to 6 at the Village de la Francophonie, at the “Refaire le monde” Festival and at the “FrancoTech” French Innovations Fair.

Within the framework of the International City of the French Language in Villers-Cotterêts and the Grand Palais in Paris, the leaders of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) have made a series of commitments with the ambition of taking further, higher and stronger a useful Francophonie, capable of offering numerous opportunities to our societies and in particular to our youth.

And “tremendous lever of opportunitys”

Thirty-three years after the 1991 edition, the Francophonie Summit was held again in France. An event intended to promote the French language and talk about the future of the French-speaking space in the world.

The Francophonie is above all the sharing of a common language, French. More than 321 million people speak it on five continents. It is the fifth most spoken language in the world. By 2050, the number of speakers could rise to 750 million due to the high demographics of French-speaking countries, particularly in Africa.

During his speech at the opening of the Summit on October 4 in Villers-Cotterêts, in the north of France, French President Emmanuel Macron praised a language in constant “reinvention”. French is a “tremendous lever of opportunities, I say it for all our young people, all those who are moving towards commerce, don’t think only English”, he asserted.

He assured that the Francophonie was a “space of influence”, pleading for its members to carry “together a diplomacy” which defends everywhere “sovereignty and territorial integrity”. “The Francophonie is a space of diplomatic influence which allows us to embrace the challenges of the century, declared the president. It is a place where we can together carry out diplomacy that defends sovereignty and territorial integrity everywhere across the planet.”, he stressed.

The member countries of the OIF launched “the Call of Villers-Cotterêts”, inviting major digital players to “build a safer and more diverse space and to fight against all this hate speech”.

Emmanuel Macron also called for “building a digital order protecting citizens”, pour “better fight against disinformation, the spread of hatred online, hate speech, racist, anti-Semitic”.

Speaking, the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo, affirmed that the French-speaking community, made up of members from many continents, had become increasingly mature, actively contributing to common efforts aimed at promoting cooperation, dialogue , consolidate peace and address global challenges.

She stressed that the OIF would continue its reforms to respond to the rapid changes in the current situation, with a focus on digital transformation, sustainable development and support for programs aimed at women and youth, while further promoting teaching French and entrepreneurship in French.

Three major issues

At the end of the 19th century^e Francophonie Summit, on October 5, its secretary general Louise Mushikiwabo hailed the success of the event and warmly thanked France, the host country.

Three major issues marked this international conference.

First, Francophone youth and employment. The theme of the Summit, “Create, innovate and undertake in French”, placed the issue of youth employment at the center of discussions, with the desire to create concrete solutions both within the OIF and in the Member States. to offer young people opportunities for professional integration in French.

Second, new memberships and change of status. Several states and governments submitted requests for membership or modification of their status during this Summit. New observers include Angola, Chile, Nova Scotia (Canada), French Polynesia (France) and Saarland. In addition, countries such as Cyprus and Ghana have seen their status evolve to become full members, bringing the number of members of the OIF to 93, testifying to its growing attractiveness.

Third, multilateralism and crisis management. In a context of fragility of multilateralism, the Summit was an opportunity to reflect on the added value of the OIF in the management of crises affecting the French-speaking area. The work resulted in the adoption of three major texts, notably the Summit Declaration, the Declaration of Solidarity with Lebanon, and the Resolution on Crises in the Francophone Space.

These decisions demonstrate the crucial role of the OIF in building a united, innovative and engaged Francophonie.

The Villers-Cotterêts Declaration emphasizes Francophone efforts to address common challenges, including climate change, job creation and the promotion of gender equality. It calls on member countries to encourage and support cooperative activities in the fields of science and technology, innovation, creativity, promotion of the digital economy, start-ups and public-private partnership.

The Declaration underlines the determination of member countries to implement sustainable development, ensuring harmony between growth efforts, poverty reduction and environmental protection.

“We strongly call for an end to attacks on Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire. We condemn any indiscriminate action against civilians and call for the protection of the civilian population. We call for respect in all circumstances for international law, and in particular international humanitarian law, and invite all stakeholders concerned to work towards de-escalation, in order to avoid a conflagration in the region.”, mentioned the Declaration of Solidarity with Lebanon.

“We encourage all parties to favor a diplomatic solution to the conflict, demand compliance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 of 2006”, she quoted.

The Resolution on crisis situations, crisis recovery and peacebuilding in the French-speaking area reaffirmed the attachment to the values ​​of peace and solidarity, fundamental rights and freedoms as well as the universal principles of international law and in particular those of the United Nations Charter.

The Summit decided to organize the 46^e Ministerial Conference of La Francophonie in Côte d’Ivoire in 2025.

For the second time, Asia will host a Francophonie Summit: after Vietnam in 1997, it will be Cambodia’s turn in 2026.

“Cambodia wishes to reiterate its adherence to the values ​​of the Francophonie”, underlined the King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni, adding that he hoped to be able to share with other French-speaking members the singularities of the Francophonie in Asia-Pacific.

Summary by the CVN