YEREVAN, OCTOBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of France to Armenia Jonathan Lacote says that the organizational works of the La Francophonie have been carried out excellently.

He told ARMENPRESS that this isn’t only his opinion, but also the opinion of other delegations that have arrive to Armenia.

“La Francophonie is organized wonderfully, and this isn’t only my opinion, but also the opinion of other representatives. All delegations emphasized this during the Permanent Council session that took place today in the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex,” the French ambassador said.

 He said that the La Francophonie summit isn’t only an official summit, but also a celebration.

“It is a holiday, through which they show that French is a language that unites different countries, different nations. Through the pavilion of France we want to show that French is a language of opportunities. As you can see, there are digital technologies here, and crafts, and information about education. This enables residents of Armenia to get to know Francophonie and the French language,” he said.

The Pavilion of France has opened in the Francophonie Village in downtown Yerevan.

“The pavilion of France was created in the “French of Opportunities” spirit, because that’s how President Emmanuel Macron is characterizing the French language. We tried to show the French language with all its elements in this pavilion. Here one can see digital technologies, virtual reality, video games,” says Lena Gyulkhasyan, press attaché of the French Embassy in Armenia.

The pavilion also includes a special area dedicated to entrepreneurship, where all francophone businessmen can meet and organize various seminars. The French Development Agency is also represented for business discussions. An area dedicated to crafts is also included in the pavilion. Students of the French-Armenian specialized educational center are displaying various crafts.

The French University of Armenia and the French School are also represented at the venue.

A conference hall in the pavilion will host discussions on business, arts and language.

“We want to show the France of today with this pavilion. It is both a cultural and business country. We are presenting the entire diversity,” the press attaché 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, and by that time all member countries of the organization will have their pavilions.

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.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan