Assistant Minister for Multilateral Affairs and Global Issues Vesna Batistić Kos attended the 29th ministerial conference of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), held 7 and 8 November in Paris.
Batistić Kos underlined the importance of achieving the organization’s goals, which include promoting peace and sustainable development by assisting in the implementation of democratic reforms, and outlined Croatia’s contribution through the Centre of Excellence. She presented Croatia’s international activities in the areas of building peace and state institutions through our presiding over the UN Peacebuilding Commission. She expressed support for OIF’s stronger focus on women’s rights and informed the participants about the ministerial meeting on said topic Croatia had organized during the UN General Assembly’s session in September. She announced the continuation of the cooperation with OIF in educating state officials in French.
On the sidelines of the conference, Batistić Kos held talks with representatives of the European Space Agency and Vietnamese Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Ngoc Son.
La Francophonie is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is the first or customary language; where a significant proportion of the population are French speakers, and/or where there is a notable affiliation with French culture. It promotes universal values of peace, security and human rights, and is comprised of 77 members – 54 permanent members, three associate members and 20 observers, a status held by Croatia since 2004. The same year, the Croatian Parliament acceded to OIF’s Parliamentary Assembly. Each year Croatia hosts the International Francophonie Days.