Francophones have been aware of their shared lingual identity since the nineteenth century, when the term "francophonie" was coined to describe the global francophone community. The official international organization of francophones began in 1926 when a group of writers formed the Association des écrivains de langue française; over the next 50 years journalists and radio stations, then some government ministries such as education, followed suit. In 1970 l’Agence de coopération culturelle et technique was formed. This francophone undertaking went on to become the l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (International Organisation of the Francophonie,) which today faces the dual challenge of integrating francophone countries while preserving respect for cultural diversity.
The OIF spearheads a plethora of efforts to preserve, promote, and promulgate francophone language and culture, supporting everything from literature prizes to theatre performances to art exhibits in rural areas. TV5Monde was created by joining 5 public television channels (from Belgium, France, Quebec, and Switzerland) and today reaches 187 million homes worldwide. There is even an athletic competition every four years, the Jeux de la Francophonie.
The Francophonie is headed by an elected secretary general; Abdou Diouf, a former president of Senegal who has since been a strong advocate for greater African unity, currently holds the position. Biannual summits are held to discuss development, culture, communication, and language, as well as technological development and scientific research. Culture and education are the original focuses of the Francophonie, but over the years other aims have been added: peace, democracy, and human rights; sustainable development; economics; and technology. For example, the OIF played an important role in the 1992 Roumanian elections, providing technical assistance as well as supervising ballots and educating voters.
The Francophonie has its own website, which in fact was the source for this post. Visit francophonie.org to learn more about member nations and specific OIF initiatives. And next time someone asks you what's so special about French anyway, you can mention a couple of these statistics: there are 220 million francophones in the world, and French and English are the only languages spoken on 5 continents. French is the third most common language on the internet, after English and German, with Spanish coming in at fourth. 19% of global trade takes place within the OIF.
