International Organisation of the Francophonie

La Francophonie groups together all territories and people that use French as a common language – whether as their mother tongue, an administrative language or a cultural language. French is spoken by more than 274 million people and remains the second most-studied foreign language in the world.

It was in Niger in 1970 that the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique was founded, paving the way for the creation of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) in 2005.

The IOF encourages exchanges between government and civil society representatives in French-speaking countries. It has 54 member, 27 observer and 7 associate states. Its core values are anchored in the Charter of La Francophonie, which was adopted at the 1997 Summit of la Francophonie in Vietnam and completed in 2005 in Madagascar. The charter upholds solidarity, peace, democracy, sustainable development and the rule of law in French-speaking countries.

On 19 and 20 November 2022, the island of Djerba in Tunisia hosted the 18th Summit of la Francophonie, whose theme was 'Connectivity in diversity: digital technology, a vector for development and solidarity in the French-speaking world'.The member states adopted the Djerba Declaration as well as the Declaration on the French language and the linguistic diversity of French-speaking countries.The secretary-general of la Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo, was confirmed for a second term. 

In order to reach its goals, the IOF is divided into four bodies:

• Conference of heads of state or government (Summit of la Francophonie) (fr)
• Ministerial Conference (CMF)(fr)
• Permanent Council (CPF)(fr)
• Permanent ministerial conferences: Conference of Education Ministers (CONFEMEN) and Conference of Ministers for Youth and Sport (CONFEJES)(fr)

The IOF works with the following four specialised agencies:

Academic Agency of la Francophonie (AUF)

Universities in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, the EPFL, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland and other educational institutes are members of the AUF. The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation has contributed to the AUF's budget since 1998.Switzerland has a seat on the board of the organisation.

TV5MONDE

Switzerland was a co-founder of this French-language TV channel created in 1984. TV5MONDE programmes are broadcast to more than 200 countries in 11 different languages.

The International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF)

The AIMF is a network of local authorities which implements projects within the framework of a shared system of values.

Senghor University

Switzerland has a seat on the board of this institute based in Alexandria, Egypt, which trains African development experts.