General Secretary and President To Lam highlights multilateral mechanism at Francophone conference

Within the framework of the Francophone Summit, on October 5 (local time) in Paris (France), General Secretary and President To Lam continued to attend official meetings and delivered an important speech at the Conference.

At the Conference, leaders appreciated the contributions of the Francophone community in promoting dialogue and peacebuilding, promoting cultural and linguistic diversity, contributing to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and responding to global challenges.

The leaders also shared concerns about some recent complicated developments in the world situation, especially in the Middle East; emphasized the need to reform multilateral institutions, including Francophone institutions, to enhance operational efficiency and promptly adapt to trends of the times.

Speaking at the Conference's "For a Renewed Multilateralism" Session, General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed the irreplaceable role of multilateral mechanisms, highlighting the contributions of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) and Francophone institutions in addressing issues of common concern to the international community, as well as the processes of building frameworks and principles for emerging issues.

In order to promote the role of multilateralism, the General Secretary and President emphasized the need to link it with major transformation processes, especially digital transformation and green transformation.

The Francophone space also needs to adapt to this trend, supporting members to improve their technological capacity, develop clean energy and successfully implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

Science and technology are the keys to the Francophone community's ability to make breakthroughs in the future.

To improve the operational efficiency of multilateral institutions, including the International Organization of La Francophonie, the General Secretary and President affirmed the need to promote reforms to be able to respond to rapid changes in the world situation and the Francophone space.

Francophonie also needs to innovate in a more focused way on the priorities of its members, especially on economic cooperation and coordination in implementing the documents of the future Summit.

Multilateralism can only succeed if it ensures inclusiveness, comprehensiveness, and puts people at the center, especially the young generation.

General Secretary and President To Lam suggested that the Francophone continue to promote people-to-people exchange programs, cultural and educational exchanges through French to maintain a beautiful language that unites Francophone members, thereby spreading the results of Francophone cooperation to all people.

On the afternoon of October 5, the Closing Session of the 19th Francophone Summit took place. After two days of effective and substantive work, the heads of state and government of Francophone member states unanimously adopted many important documents, including the Villers-Cotterêts Joint Declaration, the Resolution on the political situation and strengthening peace in the Francophone space, and the Declaration on solidarity with Lebanon.

The Villers-Cotterêts Declaration affirms commitment to the common values ​​of the Francophone language: peace, cooperation, sustainable development, and respect for the United Nations Charter and international law.

The statement emphasized the efforts of the Francophone community in responding to and addressing common challenges, especially climate change, job creation, and promoting gender equality.

The Declaration calls on member countries to encourage and support cooperation activities in science, technology, innovation, creativity, promoting digital economy, startups, and promoting public-private partnerships.

The statement affirms the commitment to promoting the French language, emphasizing the role of French in training, teaching, creativity, and promoting cultural diversity.

The Declaration emphasizes the determination of Francophone member countries in implementing sustainable development, ensuring harmony between efforts for growth, poverty eradication and environmental protection.

The conference also unanimously agreed to accept Ghana and the Republic of Cyprus as full members, bringing the OIF membership to 93; and admitted Angola, Chile, the Nouvelle-Escosse region (Canada), French Polynesia and the Sarre region (Germany) as observers.

The conference decided to hold the 46th Francophonie Ministerial Conference in Côte d'Ivoire in 2025 and the 20th Francophonie Summit in Cambodia in 2026.

After the 7th Francophonie Summit held in Hanoi in 1997, this will be the second time the Summit is held in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 19th Francophonie Summit will take place on October 4-5, 2024 in France. After 33 years, the Conference will be held in France.

The Opening Session was held at the Château de Villers-Cotterêts. The formal sessions took place at the Grand Palais, Paris (France).