Francophonie - Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne’s participation in the Francophonie Ministerial Conference (Paris, 24-25 November 2020)

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State for Tourism, French Nationals Abroad and Francophonie, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will take part today in the 37th session of the Francophonie Ministerial Conference, in the presence of Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, and Othman Jerandi, Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, who will chair the meeting. This ministerial meeting, which is the second most important la Francophonie event after the summit of heads of state and government, will also take place via video conference.

The ministers will examine the challenges posed by the Covid-19 crisis for la Francophonie, through a resolution on “Living together through the pandemic and in the post-Covid world.” The adoption of a new economic strategy for la Francophonie will also launch preparations for the summit marking the 50th anniversary of la Francophonie due to take place in Djerba, Tunisia in November 2021, which will focus on economic and digital issues.

The secretary general will provide the ministers with a mid-term assessment of the progress in the reforms that she undertook after taking office in order to strengthen the effectiveness and visibility of la Francophonie on the international stage. France, which is the largest contributor to the OIF’s budget, and to that of several la Francophonie operators (TV5Monde, International Association of Francophone Mayors, Francophonie University Agency, Senghor University in Alexandria) and its standing ministerial conferences (Conference of the Ministers of Education of French Speaking Countries (CONFEMEN) and the Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers of la Francophonie (CONFEJES), actively supports the momentum generated by Ms. Mushikiwabo aimed at modernizing its management and refocusing la Francophonie on its main priorities, first and foremost the promotion of the French language, cooperation on global challenges and political and democratic governance issues.