ArmenPress, Armenia
Oct 12 2018


Armenian FM, Chairperson of the African Union Commission hold meeting in Yerevan



YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenian foreign minister Zohrab
Mnatsakanyan held a meeting on October 12 with Moussa Faki,
theChairperson of the African Union Commission who is in Armenia to
take part in the XVII Summit of the International Organization of La
Francophonie.

During the meeting the Armenian FM said that expanding relations with
states of the African continent is among the important foreign policy
priorities of Armenia and that the country is ready to take practical
steps to use the existing potential to a greater extent. In this
context, the sides attached importance to the La Francophonie
platform, which enables good opportunities to involve member states in
both bilateral and multilateral formats.

The sides exchanged ideas over prospects of expanding Armenia’s
presence in the African region and direction of possible cooperation.

The sides also discussed the agenda issues of the XVII Summit of the
La Francophonie.

Yerevan is hosting the XVII International Organisation of La
Francophonie summit in 2018.

Armenia is a member of the organization since 2008.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie represents one of
the biggest linguistic zones in the world. Its members share more than
just a common language. They also share the humanist values promoted
by the French language. The French language and its humanist values
represent the two cornerstones on which the International Organisation
of La Francophonie is based.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie was created in 1970.
Its mission is to embody the active solidarity between its 84 member
states and governments (58 members and 26 observers), which together
represent over one-third of the United Nations’ member states and
account for a population of over 900 million people, including 274
million French speakers.

IOF organizes political activities and actions of multilateral
cooperation that benefit French-speaking populations. Its actions
respect cultural and linguistic diversity and serve to promote the
French language, peace and sustainable development.

IOF has concluded 33 cooperation agreements with international and
regional organisations and has established permanent dialogue between
the major international linguistic zones (the English, Portuguese,
Spanish, and Arab-speaking zones).

The IOF has its head office in Paris as well as four permanent
representations in Addis Ababa (at the African Union and at the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa), in Brussels (at the European
Union), in New York and in Geneva (at the UN). It has three regional
offices (West Africa; Central Africa and Indian Ocean; Asia-Pacific)
located respectively in Lomé (Togo), Libreville (Gabon) and Hanoi
(Vietnam) and two regional antennas in Bucharest (Romania) and in
Port-au-Prince (Haiti).

Alongside the IOF, the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie and
the four direct operators are responsible for implementing the
programs decided at the Summits. The four direct operators are: the
Academic Agency of La Francophonie, TV5Monde, the International
Association of Francophone Mayors and The Senghor University of
Alexandria.

61 Member States and Governments: Albania, Principality of Andorra,
Armenia, Kingdom of Belgium, French Community of Belgium, Benin,
Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada,
Canada-New-Brunswick, Canada-Quebec, Cape Verde, Central African
Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon,
Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Laos,
Lebanon, Luxembourg, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Mauritania, Moldova, Monaco,
Niger, New-Caledonia, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Säo Tomé
and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia,
Vanuatu, Vietnam, UAE, Kosovo, Serbia.

29 Observers: Argentina, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Canada-Ontario, South Korea, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Dominican Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia,
Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, Mozambique, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Thailand, Ukraine,Uruguay, Gambia, Ireland, Louisiana (USA),
Malta.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan