What is the motto of the Francophonie?

Francophonie is an international organization of politics and governments with French as the main language. The countries have a large number of people who are francophones (French speakers), or where there is a notable affiliation with the French language or culture.

It used to be called the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF) or the International Organization of the Francophonie. There are 56 member states and governments, 3 associate members, and 19 observers. The modern organization was created in 1970. Its motto is "equality, complementarity, and solidarity".

French geographer Onésime Reclus made the word Francophonie in 1880. It is used to refer to the community of people and countries using the French language.

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The Francophonie refers to men and women who share a common language: French. We estimate over 300 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.

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The International Organization of the Francophone [Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (IOOTF)] is one of the largest linguistic organisation that represents those countries and regions where French is the first (Mother Tongue) or customary language.

The organisation was created in 1970 with the motto of “equality, complementarity and solidarity”. Presently, it has 57 member states and governments along with three associate members and twenty observers. The main objective of this inter-governmental organisation is to promote the cultures of its members and intensify the cultural and technical cooperation among them as well as the solidarity and the connection between them through dialogue.

Missions of the International Organization of the Francophone (IOOTF)

• Promoting French language and cultural and linguistic diversity.
• Promoting peace, democracy and human rights.
• Supporting education, training, higher education and scientific research.
• Expand cooperation for sustainable development

Operating agencies of International Organization of the Francophone (IOOTF)

The International Organization of the Francophone (IOOTF) has five operative agencies for execution of the Organisational mandate. The five operative agencies are discussed below:

• Association of Francophone Universities (AUF): It was established in 1961 in Montreal for the support of cultural and linguistic diversity, law and democracy, and the environment and sustainable development.
• Assembly of Francophone Civil Servants of International Organisations (AFFOI): It was established in 2008 in The Hague to increase awareness about the importance of linguistic, cultural and conceptual diversity.
• TV5Monde, the French-speaking international television: It is the first international French language television network and third largest television network after BBC and CNN. It provides wide access to original television programmes in French, and contributes to the development of the language and French-speaking cultures.
• International Association of French-speaking Mayors: It was created in 1979 in Quebec City on the initiative of Jean Pelletier and Jacques. Its goal is to establish close cooperation in all areas of municipal activities for strengthening the local democracy, building municipal capacities, and to support the populations.
• Senghor University of Alexandria: It is a private   postgraduate institution that train managers and high-level trainers in areas that are a priority for development in Francophone Africa.

La Francophonie is an international community of countries where either a large proportion of the people who live there speak French, or where French culture and language have a big impact on the national identity of the people. 

French is a world language and is spoken across the globe. In fact, worldwide there are more than 150 million Francophones (or French-speakers).

Two of every three Francophones live outside of France, and in more than 40 countries on five continents.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) was created in 1970.

It has 75 member states and governments (56 members and 19 observers), which together represent more than one third of the United Nations' member states and account for a population of over 890 million people.

It has four major missions in its strategic plan for 2005-2014:

• to promote the French language and cultural and lingusitic diversity
• to promote peace, democracy  and human rights
• to support education, training, higher education and research
• to develop co-operation in the service of sustainable development.

For centuries people from France have settled in different places across the world.

Sometimes, settlers followed explorers to find new lands where they could start a new life. At other times, France invaded other countries and took over control of them, claiming them as French territories and colonies.

Now the member countries of the Francophonie work together as equal partners and co-operate in the fields of culture, science, economy, justice, and peace.

The motto of La Francophonie is égalité, complémentarité, solidarité.

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Grab your passport and get ready to go! Angus will guide you around La Francophonie and introduce you to this resource.

What is La Francophonie, and which countries are members? Find out more. 

Video clips with ideas and suggestions to help practitioners use Passeport pour la Francophonie with learners.