The “Francophonie Week” is the festival of the French language and cultures of the French-speaking countries, which is celebrated in the middle of March across the world. The organizers and partners have prepared a program for the broad public, which consists of 8 online events.  

French is the fifth language spoken in the world, the third language for business, spoken by more than 300 million people on five continents, and also is known as the language of diplomacy. 88 countries are members of the International Organization of Francophonie, in 29 of which French is the official language.

This year the Francophonie week will be launched in Bishkek on March 23 with the Swiss movie « Le jeu de l'amour et du hasard » (The game of love and chance) to be screened online at 17:30 in Zoom.  

Francophone Week includes various competitions of French song, dance, elocution and reading for children.

There will also be educational webinars: "Studying in France" (25 March at 11:00 am, webcast at Zoom) and "Studying at Francophone Universities" (25 March at 18:00 pm, webcast at Zoom).

The detailed program is presented below:

• French Alliance in Bishkek  - Facebook
  
• French Embassy Kyrgyzstan - webpage, Facebook
• Swiss Embassy Kyrgyzstan – Facebook

The event has been organized jointly with the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic and the local authorities. The programme is co-financed by the governments of Switzerland and Germany and implemented by GIZ.

The Swiss government will contribute Euro 2.1 million. The additional Swiss funds will be allocated to continue the work in the Jalal-Abad region and to strengthen new value chains in Batken region.

The programme will support the local producers and entrepreneurs for better income prospects and use of green technologies. In Batken region successful business model that worked in Jalal-Abad region will be replicated.

Since 2015, Swiss contribution is totalling almost 7 million Euros. The programme already contributed to put in place profitable private technical advisory services that improved production and opened access to high value international for organic plums and early vegetables. In the Jalal Abad region only almost 1000 new jobs were created; nearly 600 agricultural producers have substantially increased their income; around 140 food processing small and medium enterprises increased their incomes by 40%.

In general the programme promotes green practices ensuring sustainable private sector development in Issyk-Kul, Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken regions of Kyrgyzstan.