YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The Francophonie events in Armenia will kick off on October 7 with the session of the Permanent Council. ARMENPRESS reports the works will be launched by the Secretary General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), the Chairwoman of the Permanent Council of the Francophonie.

The 35th OIF Ministerial Conference will take place on October 8-9. The official opening of Francophonie Village at the Freedom Square is scheduled on October 9, where the participant countries and partners of the OIF will have the opportunity to display the cultural and language diversity of their countries.

The 47^th session of the International Francophone Press Union will take place on October 9-12 in Tsakhkadzor. The topic of this session will be “Press and migration”.

In the sidelines of the 17^th summit of the Francophonie an economic forum will be organized for the first time on October 10 at Tumo center for creative technologies.

A gala concert will be held at the Republican Square on October 11 at 19:30 the final part of which will be dedicated to world famous chansonnier Charles Aznavour.

The 17th summit of the Francophonie will be held on October 11-12. The election of Secretary General of the organization is on the agenda. The Summit will be held under the theme of "Living Together"; "Living together, respecting solidarity, humanistic values and diversity as the basis for peace and prosperity in the francophone area." Pomegranate has been chosen as the logo of the summit, symbolizing peace and prosperity in the entire Francophonie area.

Yerevan is hosting the XVII International Organisation of La Francophonie summit October 7-12. 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.

OIF 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 : 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 : 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 Tigran Sirekanyan

Photos by Gevorg Perkuperkyan, Eduard Sepetchyan