Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie is the international body of states and governments sharing the French language as a common tongue. With 88 member states and governments — 54 full members, 7 associate members, and 27 observers — the OIF spans every inhabited continent and represents around 320 million French speakers worldwide.

At a glance

• Founded: 1970 (Convention of Niamey signed 20 March 1970 establishing the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT); renamed Organisation internationale de la Francophonie in 2005)
• Headquarters: Paris, France
• Official languages: French
• Website: www.francophonie.org

Mission

The OIF's charter sets four main missions: promoting the French language and cultural and linguistic diversity; promoting peace, democracy, and human rights; supporting education, training, higher education and research; and developing economic cooperation in the service of sustainable development.

Structure

The Summit of Heads of State and Government, held every two years, is the supreme decision-making body. The Ministerial Conference of foreign ministers prepares Summit decisions. The Permanent Council of representatives in Paris meets several times a year. The Secretariat in Paris, led by the Secretary-General, handles operations. Specialised agencies cover universities (AUF), parliamentarians (APF), local government (AIMF), and television (TV5MONDE).

Member states

OIF has 52 member states. Membership current as of 2024-01.

• Albania
• Andorra
• Armenia
• Belgium
• Benin
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cabo Verde
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Cyprus
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Egypt
• Equatorial Guinea
• France
• Gabon
• Ghana
• Greece
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Haiti
• Ivory Coast
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Luxembourg
• Madagascar
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Morocco
• Niger
• North Macedonia
• Republic of the Congo
• Romania
• Rwanda
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Switzerland
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Togo
• Tunisia
• Vanuatu
• Vietnam

Key facts

• Several full members have French as a minority or non-official language — Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Armenia, and Albania joined for political and cultural reasons rather than linguistic ones.
• The OIF's observer states include unexpected members like Argentina, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates — countries seeking diplomatic and economic ties with the Francophone world.
• TV5MONDE, the French-language international television network operated under OIF auspices, broadcasts in over 200 countries to 350 million households — one of the largest international broadcasters in the world.
• France itself is just one of 54 full members; the organisation is consciously not "French" but "Francophone" — a distinction politically important to former colonies.
• Rwanda, traditionally Francophone, switched its primary language of education to English in 2008 — a controversial decision that did not affect its OIF membership but signalled changing geopolitical alignments.

Historic milestones