YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. The city of Yerevan has its individual pavilion at the La Francophonie Village, a venue in the Armenian capital’s Freedom Square where all participating countries of the International Organization of La Francophonie are represented. The Pavilion of Armenia is presented separately and features 10 provinces and Artsakh.

The Yerevan Pavilion is presenting the 2800-year history of the city with all its elements, City Hall official Diana Aslanyan told ARMENPRESS. She said that they brought in exhibits from the Erebuni Historic-Archaeological Reserve Museum and the Yerevan History Museum.

She said that Taraz & Art Photolab has provided Armenian national costumes to put for display. “The information centers of Yerevan will inform tourists and guests where they can go. Books in four languages – Armenian, English, Russian and French – have been prepared specially for the 2800th anniversary of Yerevan,” she said.

The Francophonie Village’s goal is to present the cultural diversity of the International Organization of La Francophonie.

Today, the Permanent Council session of the organization kicked off in Yerevan, signaling the start of the Francophonie events in the Armenian capital.

The Francophonie Village will be open until October 12, from 12:00 to 20:00. The Village will be officially opened on October 9.

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

The events will take place October 7-12, with the summit scheduled for the final two days.  

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.

58 Member States and Governments of La Francophonie : 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.

26 Observers of La Francophonie : 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, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan