Ambassador Ivan Velimir Starcevic, on behalf of the Croatian Government, participated at the 31st session of the Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie in Yerevan in Armenia which took place on 10 and 11 October. Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie brings together foreign ministers or ministers responsible for Francophonie once a year. Furthermore, Ministerial Conference oversees the implementation of decisions made at the Summit; it’s responsible for the preparation of the next meeting of Heads of State or Government, and also issue recommendations on the membership admission of the candidate countries. The International Organization of Francophonie brings together 80 countries and provinces with more than one billion people on five continents who are sharing French language and universal values of our civilization. It plays an important role in promoting peace, democracy, solidarity and human rights in a world shaken by wars, extremism, terrorism, and intensive migration flows. Croatia last year marked the tenth anniversary of accession to the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF).
This year"s ministerial meeting of the Francophonie was held under the chairmanship of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. With the current organizational issues, and evaluation of implementation of decisions from last year"s Summit in Dakar and the preparation of the meeting of Heads of State or Government scheduled for next year in Madagascar, emphasis is placed on topics dedicated to tolerance, dialogue and coexistence, prevention of genocide as well as the climate change challenges.
On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting Memorandum of partnership, within the "French in international relations" program was signed for the period up to 2018. The Memorandum was signed by Ambassador Ivan Velimir Starcevic on behalf of the Croatian Government. This partnership will enable Croatia, as well as some other member states of the Francophonie, to take part in co-financing the French language learning program designed for diplomats and civil servants, and to participate in other cooperation programs with countries of the Francophonie.
Press releases
