Francophonie

Egypt and La Francophonie

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Egypt's participation at the XV Summit of the International Organization of la Francophonie (Dakar- November 2014):​​​

  1. Egypt participated at the XV Summit of the International Organization of la Francophonie, held in Dakar on November 29 and 30, 2014 with a delegation headed by Eng. Ibrahim Mahlab, the former Prime Minister. This high-level participation took place, as Egypt is keen to confirm its presence among the African countries, which constitute the majority of the Organization's member States.
  2. The former Prime Minister delivered a speech at the opening session of the Summit, representing Arab countries, in which he tackled the stage of democratic transition and the war Egypt wages against terrorism; he also called for the need for concerted efforts of Member States in countering the Ebola virus in West Africa, and reviewed Egypt's efforts to improve the status of women and youth whose questions occupied a large part of the Summit agenda as being the axis of the final document which was approved under the title "Women and Youth Actors for Peace and Development."
  3. The Dakar Declaration contains a special paragraph about the Middle East and emphasized the principles and terms of reference of the Peace Process and the right of the Palestinian people to establish their own State, in addition to the Cairo Conference for Gaza Reconstruction, calling the donor countries to fulfill their commitments, and emphasizing their right to self-determination, as well as calling for the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
  4. The summit also adopted nine decisions topped by the anti-terrorism decision. It is worth noting that Egypt was keen that the decision stipulates a firm condemnation of terrorist acts and calling the Member States for further regional and international cooperation in this field, as well as constricting terrorist groups, besides calling to stop funding terrorist acts and providing a safe haven for terrorists.

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Celebration of the International Day of la Francophonie (Cairo, April 2015):

  1. La Francophonie celebration was organized on April 20, 2015 at the Cairo Opera House under the auspices of H.E. the Foreign Minister. The Assistant Foreign Minister for Multilateral Relations and International Security, Ambassador Hisham Badr, inaugurated the ceremony by delivering a speech in which he stressed Egypt's solidarity with the Francophonie values that uphold diversity of cultures and civilizations. Assistant Minister also indicated the need to unite the efforts of the Organization's member States to stand together against the imminent terrorism threat, which endangers international peace and security.
  2. The ceremony was attended by accredited ambassadors in Cairo of the International Organization of la Francophonie member States, and a group of academic and public figures with relation to the Francophone culture. The President of the French University in Egypt, and the Dean of the Senghor University, one of the most important bodies of the International Organization of la Francophonie based in the city of Alexandria, also participated at the celebration. The Dean of Senghor University and the Ambassador of Senegal in Cairo (as Senegal assumed the presidency of the Organization at the time) delivered two welcome speeches at the opening ceremony.
  3. The Senghor University post-graduate students from 23 African countries participated at the ceremony by presenting a show of their countries' national costumes. Embassies of some Francophone countries also participated by presenting traditional shows reflecting their countries' national heritage, while the Egyptian "Oud House" band also performed musical pieces reflecting the Egyptian music heritage.​
  4. The Egyptian diplomatic missions were keen to participate at the celebrations held on the occasion of the International Day of la Francophonie in their countries of accreditation, by presenting artistic performances or displaying Egyptian movies translated into French, as an emphasis of the importance Egypt attaches to participating in this international event organized each year in March.
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Egypt's participation at the Ministerial Conference of the International Organization of la Francophonie (Yerevan - October 2015):​​​​

  1. Egypt participated at the 31st session of the Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie, which was held in the Armenian capital Yerevan on October 10 and 11, 2015, as Ambassador Fatema El Zahraa Etman, the personal representative of the President of the Republic to the Permanent Council of the Francophonie and the head of the Egyptian delegation, delivered a speech in which she underlined the Egyptian authentic values of respecting pluralism and diversity, and recognition of the other, and stressed the need for concerted international efforts to avert the danger of blind terrorism that surpasses the region's borders, constituting an urgent threat to the whole world. She also emphasized the need to formulate future policies emanating from our responsibilities towards the future and next generations, referring to the President's initiative that he launched during the recent session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 entitled "Hope and Action" focusing on actuating and investing youth energies to build a new future preventing descent into extremism and violence.​
  2. The Ministerial Conference adopted a series of decisions about the following topics: the Francophonie as a space for peace, tolerance, diversity, dialogue, and mutual understanding / refugees and migrants / youth participation / genocide prevention / the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
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Cooperation between Egypt and the International Organization of la Francophonie in the field of French language for 2015-2018:​

  1. Egypt and the Organization of la Francophonie signed in October 2015 a memorandum of understanding in the framework of the program "French language in international relations" for the period 2015-2018. Egypt has been selected among sixteen other member States of the Organization to benefit from the mentioned cooperation program, taking into account the fact that Egypt topped the most successful countries in benefiting from this program during 2011-2014.​
  2. The cooperation program aims to train diplomats and government cadres in the different ministries and government bodies involved in international cooperation on mastering the French language, and granting the outstanding trainees internationally recognized certificates of French language. The number of beneficiaries of the cooperation program for 2015 to 2018 is expected to reach about 2000 government cadres working in the field of international relations.

 

Celebration of the twenty-f​​​ifth anniversary of the Senghor University (Alexandria - December 2015):

  1. On the occasion of celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the "French-speaking International University for the service of African development", known as the Senghor University, which is one of the most important mechanisms of the International Organization of la Francophonie, the university held a ceremony at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on December 14, 2015, and organized a round table at its headquarters on December 15 entitled "Gender Equality in the Francophonie" in which representatives of the Organization and academics from the universities of Alexandria, St. Joseph in Beirut, and Oran in Algeria participated, as well as a number of experts from different Francophone countries.
  2. The ceremony was also attended by the accredited ambassadors in Cairo of the Francophone countries, and a number of university Presidents, including the University of Alexandria and the French University in Egypt, and a group of public figures involved in the Francophone culture in Egypt. The Dean of Senghor University inaugurated the ceremony, while Dr. Ismail Serageldin, the Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, welcomed the participants, noting the Egyptian- Francophone cultural ties, and their interaction with the Egyptian society.
  3. Ambassador Fatema El Zahraa Etman, the President of the Republic's Representative to the Permanent Council of the Francophonie, delivered a speech in which she tackled the political value of Senghor University, which came to embody the wisdom of the fathers of the Dark Continent's independence, led by the former Senegalese President Leopold Senghor, who was long enticed to create a distinguished educational edifice in one of the major African countries that would seek to raise young leaders specialized in the fields of development and modernization in the continent in various areas.
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The Foreign ​​Ministry participation at the seminar of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on the occasion of celebrating the Francophonie day (Alexandria-March 2016)

  1. In the framework of celebrating the Francophonie day, organized each year in March, the Francophonie Activities Center at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina organized on March 17, 2016 a seminar on this occasion, which coincided in March 2016 with the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Senegalese President Leopold Senghor, who is considered one of the founding fathers of la Francophonie.
  2. Ambassador Nada Draz, the Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister  for La Francophonie, participated in this seminar, and delivered a speech in which she addressed Egypt's relationship with the Francophonie and contributions of Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali as the first Secretary-General of the International Organization of la Francophonie from 1998 to 2002.​


Celebration of the International Day of the Francoph​onie (Cairo, April 2016)

  1. The Francophonie festival was organized on April 2, 2016 at the Cairo Opera House, under the auspices of the Foreign Minister. Ambassador Hisham Badr, Assistant Foreign Minister for Multilateral Relations and International Security, inaugurated the ceremony by delivering a speech in which he stressed Egypt's interest and keenness to enhance cooperation with the International Organization of la Francophonie, and to support the principles that underlie it, namely the respect for culture and civilization diversity, and to achieve rapprochement between peoples. He also emphasized the need for concerted efforts of the Organization, stemming from its objectives in support of peace and development, in order to spread the culture of dialogue as one of the tools to fight extremism and terrorism, which represent the pressing and imminent threat to international peace and security.
  2. The festival paid tribute to Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali, the first Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie, who has devoted his professional career to serve the African questions, aware of the fundamental relationship between Egypt and the African continent and believing in Africa as a strategic backing to Egyptian national security. Former Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Alnoor, who attended the ceremony on behalf of the family of the late Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali, was awarded a symbolic souvenir in recognition and appreciation for his affluent path at the national, regional and international levels. The festival also displayed a documentary reviewing the different roles of the Egyptian politician, diplomat, and academic, who has held the highest international positions as the first African Arab Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, and the first Secretary General of the Organization of la Francophonie.
  3. The accredited ambassadors in Cairo of the member States of the International Organization of la Francophonie also attended the festival, as well as a group of academic and public figures taking part in the Francophone culture. The President of the French University in Egypt, and the Vice Dean of the Senghor University, also participated. The latter expressed gratitude for the Egyptian government for its support to the University's role, and its intention to grant to African students a number of scholarships for master's degrees in the different development fields.​
  4. The Senghor University post-graduate students from 23 African countries participated at the ceremony by presenting shows reflecting their countries' national heritage. The Choral group of Sainte Jeanne-Antide School in Alexandria also contributed by presenting a singing performance, and the embassies of a number of Francophone countries participated with shows and offered their traditional specialties.

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The Egyptian go​​vernment grants scholarships to Senghor University affiliated to the International Organization of la Francophonie (Cairo, July 2016):

  1. The Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development signed in July 2016 a memorandum of understanding with the International University which uses French language to serve African development, known as "Senghor University." Under the memorandum, the Agency grants a number of scholarships for the benefit of African students to receive Master's degrees, as the Egyptian side believes in the importance of education as one of the pillars of achieving development, cultural and societal influence, and extending relationship bonds between countries.​
  2. This action takes place within the framework of Egypt's keenness to strengthen cooperation with Senghor University (based in Alexandria) affiliated to the International Organization of la Francophonie, as the University entitled Master's degrees to African cadres in the different development fields, and its influence extended since it was founded in Alexandria in 1990, being reflected in the access of its graduates (about 2,000 graduates of 37 nationalities from French-speaking countries), especially in Africa, to high-level positions in their countries.​

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