Francophony

First coined in 1880 by the geographer Onésime Reclus to describe the linguistic and cultural community which France was building with her colonies, the French term "francophonie" has today rid itself of that colonial connotation and now embraces two different but complementary realities. In its broadest meaning, it encompasses all efforts to promote the French language and the values it conveys regardless of the countries in which these are made. In the institutional sense - in French it then has a capital "F" - it is the term used to describe the Francophone Community, the international organization bringing together the 55 States and governments which have chosen to subscribe its Charter.

A magnetism based on the power and influence of the French language

The French language continues in fact to occupy an important place in the world, despite its weaknesses in some sectors, such as the hard sciences, commercial law and international relations, and despite the pessimism sustained by those indulging in nostalgia. French, with English, is the only language spoken on the five continents, remains a working language in the international organizations, in Europe as in Africa where for example it has a special place in the Organization of African Unity (OAU). French is the mother tongue of nearly 80 million people, the eighth most spoken language in the world (out of over 2,000 languages) and ninth, with 160 million speakers, if you include those for whom it is their second language. Finally, there are estimated to be over 250 million people "capable of using French from time to time". Going beyond those figures, investigations conducted in many countries show that French retains a positive image not just of a useful language - an essential one in some sectors - but also of a language indissociably linked to values, a culture, to universal goals for society. The French language has the privilege of being recognized all over the world as a great language of civilization. It is because of this status that French has spread far and wide and is present in education systems and taught on every continent. Around 57 million pupils and students are learning French or studying in France abroad, involving some 900,000 teachers.

An open and tolerant community with a shared destiny

Institutional Francophony is a recent development. Its founding act was the creation on 20 March 1970 in Niamey of theAgency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT), which has since become the Francophone Agency. Following their accession to independence, the countries of the South wanted this to be a linguistic and cultural community and set it up without France’s direct involvement, since General de Gaulle had doubts about the establishment of a structured Francophone organization. Its birth came only after he had left power. The Francophone Agency, whose thirtieth birthday was celebrated in 2000, had five symbolic statesmen as godparents: the Tunisian Habib Bourguiba, Cambodian Norodom Sihanouk, Nigerian Hamani Diori, Lebanese Charles Hélou and Senegalese Léopold Sédar Senghor. They felt it important to keep very much alive the bonds created by a common history and cultural references through the medium of a language. This project rapidly extended beyond the borders of the old French empire, with new countries coming to join the founding members.

An organization with a universal calling, the Francophone Community is by nature open to the world and to its constituent peoples and cultures. Basically, its goal is to rally around the values of fraternity, tolerance and universality, countries with very different histories, cultures and levels of development, but which all want to affirm their identity in the globalizing world of today. So the Francophone Community must not be confused with all the efforts to promote the role of the French language in the world. It is not immutable. Unlike the Commonwealth, for example, its membership criteria are not dependent on a common colonial history. Nor is it necessary for French to be the official language in its member States.

A remodelled multilateral organization

The Francophone community has political authorities and agencies. The dominant political authority is the conference of Francophone Heads of State and Government (summits) which meets every other year in a different country and sets the movement’s major guidelines for the following two years (next summit to be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Fasso, in october 2004). The Conference of Ministers responsible for Francophony in the member countries meets on a regular basis to decide on the program for the Francophone agencies, and to debate on the guidelines of the multulateral Francophony. The Francophone Standing Council (CPF - Conseil permanent de la francophonie) on which sit personal representatives of the organization’s Heads of State and Government, convenes more regularly, in fact whenever its agenda warrants it. Responsible for regularly monitoring the organization’’s activities, the CPF prepares the work of the other Francophone political authorities. Alongside the political authorities and accountable to them, four Francophone agencies are responsible for carrying out the organization’s programme within a particular sphere of competence: the Francophone Agency for Higher Education and Research (AUPELF-UREF), International Association of Mayors and leaders of Partly or Wholly Francophone Capitals and Metropolises (AIMF), Senghor University of Alexandria and the TV5 television channel. There is also an Intergovernmental Francophone Agency which has broad responsibilities, covering every area except those directly covered by another agency.

The institutional reform, officially established by the Hanoi summit in 1997, had a considerable impact since the organization was given a face through the establishment of the post of Francophone Secretary-General. Elected by the Heads of State and Government for a renewable period of four years, the Secretary-General can be viewed as a conductor for the Francophone Community: the most senior official of the Intergovernmental Agency, Chairman of the Standing Council, political spokesman and the movement’s official representative at the international level, he also exercises high-level duties on the cooperation front, since he spearheads the multilateral cooperation effort. He proposes to the movement’s political authorities, in accordance with the summit guidelines, the priority areas for multilateral action, aligning with the head of the Francophone Agency and the other Agencies. The establishment of this new institutional system can be regarded as a success.

A dynamic community

In thirty years, the Francophone Community has seen the number of its members rise from 22 to 55, (55 states and Government and 13 observers). Present on five continents, with 10% of the planet’s population, carrying out 11% of world trade, the Francophone Community is a mosaic of peoples who, over and above their differences, nurture a common political and cultural ambition: to build states genuinely governed by the rule of law and to promote linguistic and cultural diversity. Its brief has also radically changed. It is now far more than a simple linguistic community and, while the French language remains its common denominator, it carries world-wide values and a message of universality and democracy. It is a recognized player in the field of development. In total, its agencies allocate over 200 million Euros a year, of which France contributes two thirds. Programs focus on some priorities : language, culture, education, democracy, the reduction of the digital divide. Nowadays, the Intergovernmental Agency for Francophony emphasizes on the aid to define policies aimed at facilitating an access for the countries from the South to a financing by the international institutions ; aimed also at allowing the member-states to better defend their interests in discussions with the international organization where world regulations are defined. It also keeps abreast of the great international changes as evidenced by its breakthrough in Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin wall. Finally, a not inconsiderable part of the movement’s strength stems from the continued attraction and influence of the French language. Reforms initiated at the summits of Hanoi (1997), Moncton (1999) and Beirut (2002) are helping clarify the Francophone aims. It has thus endorsed its political vocation, which now revolves around two priorities: to strengthen democracy and the rule of law within the Francophone Community and promote linguistic and cultural diversity.

Strengthening democracy and the rule of law

Spurred on by the Secretary-General, the Francophone Community confirmed this policy in Bamako in November 2000 by adopting an important declaration at the end of a symposium on democracy and human rights in the Francophone Community. This symposium, attended by many political leaders and representatives of civil society, drew up an impartial report on ten years of democratic transitions which revealed uneven progress. The declaration gives the Francophone Community common benchmarks for democracy and human rights. It provides for mechanisms to prevent crises in democracy and incremental measures to be taken against countries in the event of a breakdown of the democratic process or massive violations of human rights. The symposium also adopted a draft programme of action to be undertaken by the Francophone agencies, listing the cooperation projects to be implemented during the 2002-2003 period: training for members of national legal services, consolidation of legal institutions and support for election processes. This action program will be submitted for approval to the Francophone Heads of State and Government at their Beirut summit in October 2001. Clearly, placing the entrenchment of democracy in the Francophone Community at the centre of its activities, the Bamako symposium addressed the worries of France who considers that membership of the Francophone Community can no longer be compatible with infringements of democracy and breaches of human rights. It was in fact encouraging that in Bamako the southern countries expressed their firm belief in democracy and were the first to consider that strengthening the rule of law was vital for development.

Promoting linguistic and cultural diversity

The objective is to forestall the risks of globalization exacerbating inequality and destroying identities and ensure that, on the contrary, it contributes to development and the dialogue of the cultures. The Francophone Heads of State and Government take the view that cultural goods can’t be reduced solely to their economic or commercial dimension and that States and governments have the right to freely establish their cultural policies, and that this includes the means and instruments needed to implement them. This is why the Francophone Heads of State and Government decided at the Moncton summit that their next summit would be devoted to the dialogue between cultures and promotion of cultural diversity. With this in mind, a conference of Francophone Ministers of Culture was organized in June 2001 in Cotonu. It confirmed French-speaking countries’ willingness to participate in drafting an international judicial tool which could promote a cultural diversity, as well as their opposition to any commitment to liberalize their cultural goods and services sectors. For the same reason, since the WTO ministerial conference in Seattle, the Francophone movement has been actively engaged in a consultation process which has reaffirmed member countries’ determination to promote cultural and linguistic diversity. This mobilization of the Francophone Community and the other great linguistic - Arabic-, Spanish-, Portuguese-speaking - families who share their concern has helped alert the southern countries to the very concrete interests they need to defend when it comes to protecting their heritage, promoting their cultural productions and the performance/exhibitions of their artists abroad, and also persuaded them that the Francophone Community can assist them in this task. Indeed, it is doing so through its efforts to help them structure their discussions and press their points of view in the relevant international organizations.

Who looks after Francophone affairs in France?

The relevant divisions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and particularly the Department for Francophone matters, which, under the authority of the Minister Delegate for Cooperation and Francophony, prepare and implement the government’’s policy with respect to Francophony. They help decide what action France and the players involved in the development of Francophony and the French language should take. - The High Council for Francophony. This consultative body, chaired in the past by the Head of State, was placed under the authority of the Secretary General for Francophony, on January 10, 2002. This institution has about thirty members, hailing from every continent, who meet annually. The High Council for Francophony also organizes a number of seminars to discuss issues linked to Francophony and publishes an annual report on the state of Francophony in the world.