Cooperation Between the United Nations and the International Organization of La Francophonie

A/RES/79/331View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 125jCooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie, published in 2025.

What other versions does this mandate have?

14 versions · 1999–2025

2025A/RES/79/331Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la FrancophonieLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/77/331Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la FrancophonieCompare with previous version
2021A/RES/75/307Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la FrancophonieCompare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/290Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la FrancophonieCompare with previous version
2017A/RES/71/289Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la FrancophonieCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 topics

Cooperation Between Organizations Francophonie French Language Regional Cooperation

What does this mandate say?

63 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General, and welcomes the strengthened and fruitful cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie;

Notes with satisfaction, in accordance with the Yerevan Declaration adopted by the Heads of State and Government of countries using French as a common language at the seventeenth Summit of la Francophonie, the active participation of the International Organization of la Francophonie in the work of the United Nations, among whose purposes, as set forth in its Charter, are to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and respect for the principle of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of those common ends;

Takes note of the adoption of the 2024–2027 four-year programme of the International Organization of la Francophonie, particularly in the fields of democracy, governance, sustainable development, education and gender equality, and encourages the complementarity of its programmes with the initiatives of United Nations agencies;

Notes with satisfaction the continued strengthening of cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie in the area of human rights and in the promotion of gender equality, commends the initiatives taken by the International Organization of la Francophonie in the areas of crisis and conflict prevention, management and resolution, the promotion of peace, support for democracy and the rule of law, full respect for human rights and good governance, the fight against impunity and the promotion of international criminal justice, in accordance with the commitments set forth in its Bamako Declaration of 3 November 2000 on the practices of democracy, rights and freedoms in the francophone world, and reaffirmed at the Ministerial Conference of la Francophonie on Conflict Prevention and Human Security, held on 13 and 14 May 2006 in Saint-Boniface, Canada;

Recalls the involvement of the International Organization of la Francophonie in high-level consultations and its genuine contribution, in cooperation with, among others, the United Nations, to conflict resolution, recovery and peacebuilding, and notes with interest the adoption on 19 June 2024 of a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating the situation of States and Governments subject to measures taken by Francophonie bodies;

Welcomes the strengthened cooperation between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Organization of la Francophonie, to strengthen the national capacities of francophone States in addressing the recommendations of United Nations human rights mechanisms, in particular the universal periodic review, as well as promoting diversity and combating all forms of discrimination, and welcomes the adoption of a new road map for cooperation between the two organizations for the period 2024–2025;

Recalls the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and the establishment of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, with which the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie cooperate in a complementary manner for the promotion and protection of human rights;

Expresses its deep concern about the continued violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including in countries affected by conflict or in post-conflict situations, and particularly against women and children, as well as refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants and persons in vulnerable situations;

Welcomes the development of cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie, with the participation of other regional and subregional organizations, in the fields of early warning and crisis and conflict prevention in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, and, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, encourages the pursuit of this initiative with a view to formulating practical recommendations to facilitate the establishment of relevant operational mechanisms, where necessary, and invites the relevant stakeholders to redouble their efforts to reduce risks and latent vulnerabilities, including by considering the development of risk management and resilience strategies;

Recognizes, as part of the cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie, the interest in intensifying efforts to move towards rapid response and the need to promote the full participation of women and youth in conflict prevention and ensure the full, equal and meaningful participation and protection of women in all aspects and at all levels of conflict prevention, management and resolution mechanisms, including through their involvement in the negotiation and implementation of peace agreement processes through the full implementation of the women and peace and security agenda in accordance with all relevant Security Council resolutions; and welcomes in this respect the training developed by the International Organization of la Francophonie, in partnership with the Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt, with a view to the promotion and ownership, by the national actors of its member States, of the women and peace and security and the youth, peace and security agendas;

Welcomes the impetus given to the participation of States members of the International Organization of la Francophonie in peacekeeping operations, while recalling that it is up to the United Nations to preserve multilingualism and the Secretariat to integrate multilingualism into the activities of these operations, and draws attention to the strengthened cooperation between the International Organization of la Francophonie, on the one hand, and the Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Operational Support of the Secretariat, on the other, with a view to reaching a satisfactory level of French-speaking personnel involved in United Nations peacekeeping operations in French-speaking countries, where the need has been expressed by the Secretariat, including the number of women, within the existing relevant United Nations legislative framework on staff selection;

Also welcomes that this cooperation, carried out in conjunction with the States members of the International Organization of la Francophonie in order to develop technical and linguistic capabilities in French, has contributed to strengthening the presence of French speakers in peacekeeping operations and their full participation in the strategic discussions on peacekeeping, and welcomes the strengthening of the cooperation between the International Organization of la Francophonie, its member States, the Department of Peace Operations, the Department of Operational Support and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in the field of peacekeeping, to the benefit of innovative and unprecedented capacity-building initiatives for contributing countries;

Recalls that the International Organization of la Francophonie was among the first international organizations to endorse the Declaration of Shared Commitments on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and has volunteered to promote capacity-building of French-speaking personnel and the development of French-language skills, and underlines that the Action for Peacekeeping initiative recognizes language skills as a necessary specialized capability, which is part of, inter alia, the performance of peacekeeping operations;

Welcomes the good functioning of the Boutros-Ghali Peacekeeping Observatory, managed by the Group for Research and Information on Peace and Security, which constitutes in particular a framework for exchanges between French-speaking experts and personalities from personnel-contributing countries and strives to support francophone States in their efforts to better prepare for their participation in peacekeeping operations, particularly those deployed in a francophone environment, and strongly encourages continued active collaboration between the International Organization of la Francophonie and the Peacebuilding Commission;

Also welcomes the partnership developed between the International Organization of la Francophonie and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research and the organization, within this framework, of training and information sessions for francophone countries on disarmament issues;

Notes the actions taken by la Francophonie to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism;

Welcomes the involvement of the International Organization of la Francophonie in promoting international criminal justice, and recalls the signing of a partnership agreement between the International Organization of la Francophonie and the International Criminal Court, which illustrates the role played by the International Organization of la Francophonie in protecting human rights, restoring the rule of law and combating impunity;

Also welcomes the importance given by the States members of the International Organization of la Francophonie to cooperating in the area of international criminal justice, and their efforts to prevent the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and to combat impunity for the perpetrators of such crimes, and in this connection stresses the importance of facilitating the development of mutual legal assistance between States in order to investigate and prosecute the most serious crimes;

Further welcomes the efforts of the International Organization of la Francophonie to establish citizen-responsive democratic governance of the security sector, to define a francophone position with regard to justice, truth and reconciliation in order to support French-speaking States in crisis and in transition, and to promote the diversity of legal systems;

Welcomes local cooperation carried out by the network of external representations of the International Organization of la Francophonie in partnership with United Nations institutions, in support of their objectives in the fields of peace, sustainable development and human rights;

Also welcomes the action taken by the International Organization of la Francophonie and its member States and Governments aimed at promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and welcomes in this respect the support provided by the International Organization of la Francophonie to its member countries in the process of monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals by encouraging a peer review of their voluntary national reviews, allowing the action taken by the International Organization of la Francophonie and the Institute for Sustainable Development of la Francophonie to promote greater inclusiveness in climate and environmental negotiations, and better access for francophone countries to sustainable finance;

Further welcomes the action taken by the International Organization of la Francophonie in promoting education and training, including the integration of digital issues in those areas, and recalls in this regard the primary and effective role of the International French Language University for African Development (Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt) in training African country executives and in supporting the promotion of their skills;

Welcomes the work of the Francophonie Institute for Education and Training in Dakar, the main mission of which is to provide the States and Governments of the International Organization of la Francophonie with technical expertise to guarantee inclusive and equitable access to quality education throughout life, in particular by encouraging the integration of national languages into education systems, also welcomes the efforts of the International Organization of la Francophonie to enhance the value of the teaching profession through initiatives that strengthen teachers’ skills, including digital skills, improve their working conditions and raise their status, and further welcomes the participation of the International Organization of la Francophonie in the Transforming Education Summit, held in New York from 16 to 19 September 2022, reaffirming the key role of teachers and national languages in the transformation of education systems;

Also welcomes the development of resources and activities within the digital portal of free educational resources known as RELIEFH, established by the International Organization of la Francophonie, which allows for the exchange and sharing of resources, quarterly training sessions, an annual awareness-raising caravan and best practices between member States and Governments in order to improve access to equal education from an early age, taking fully into account the fact that States members of the International Organization of la Francophonie have different education systems, further welcomes the approach of consultation and coordination in the field of education between the actors of the Charter of la Francophonie, and the priority areas in the fields of teachers’ training and mobility, girls’ education, bilingual education and digital education, and further welcomes the strengthening of the regional centres for French-language education deployed for Asia and the Pacific in Viet Nam (CREFAP), for Central and Eastern Europe in Bulgaria (CREFECO) and for Africa in Djibouti (CREFA), which strengthen international cooperation in the field of quality education in French and offer trainings and resources, notably through the “Speak French” platform;

Further welcomes the action taken by the International Organization of la Francophonie to modernize and strengthen civil registry systems for the benefit of its member States, in collaboration with international partners such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization and the Economic Commission for Africa;

Notes the collaborations and regular exchanges between the International Organization of la Francophonie and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on the role of digital and new technologies as a vector of economic and social development, and also notes the technical cooperation between the International Organization of la Francophonie and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law regarding possible reform of investor-State dispute settlement;

Welcomes the strengthening of the cooperation between the International Organization of la Francophonie and the International Telecommunication Union through the membership of the International Organization of la Francophonie in the three International Telecommunication Union sectors, as part of joint awareness-raising activities on cultural and linguistic diversity in the field of digital cooperation and in the life cycle of artificial intelligence;

Also welcomes the strengthening of cooperation between the World Health Organization and the International Organization of la Francophonie, through the signing of a cooperation agreement, on 9 November 2021, and deepened by the creation of the World Health Organization Academy in Lyon, France, a centre for continuing education of healthcare personnel inaugurated on 17 December 2024 to strengthen francophone capacities in the healthcare field;

Further welcomes the contribution of the Secretary-General of la Francophonie to the international community’s advocacy for universal access to safe, efficacious and affordable vaccines and global access to treatments, as well as to diagnostic tools against communicable diseases, and further welcomes the holding of francophone ministerial consultations in 2023 and 2024 on the margins of the World Health Assembly, dedicated to the challenges faced in this area in the francophone world;

Underlines the strengthening of cooperation between the International Labour Organization and the International Organization of la Francophonie, welcomes in this regard the joint organization of awareness-raising and capacity-building actions, in particular the francophone contribution to the International Labour Conference held from 3 to 14 June 2024 and regular dialogues with the Director General of the International Labour Organization, and encourages further cooperation to enhance decent work opportunities for all, and adopt and adhere to international labour standards;

Takes note of the Digital Francophonie Strategy for 2022–2026 and of the contribution of la Francophonie to the consultations in the framework of the Global Digital Compact, and welcomes the partnership developed with the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies to strengthen the capacities of francophone delegations and promote inclusive governance of artificial intelligence;

Notes with satisfaction and encourages the strengthening of the collaboration between the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie in supporting democratic processes, particularly during election periods, welcomes the technical support given by the International Organization of la Francophonie to electoral processes in countries members of the International Organization of la Francophonie in 2023 and 2024, notably in Guinea-Bissau, the Comoros, Togo, Chad, Madagascar, Rwanda, Mauritania, the Republic of Moldova, Tunisia, Mauritius and Senegal, as well as ongoing electoral processes, especially those marking the end of transition periods;

Welcomes the efforts undertaken by the International Organization of la Francophonie in combating intolerance, hate speech, misinformation and disinformation, particularly in terms of fact-checking, takes note of the launch by the States members of the International Organization of la Francophonie of the Villers-Cotterêts Call for a trustworthy and ethical digital space in the francophone world, addressed to digital platforms, at the nineteenth Summit of la Francophonie, in 2024, and notes with satisfaction tools implemented through the francophone platform of initiatives to combat disinformation and collaborations on these issues developed with the Department of Global Communications of the Secretariat and the Communication and Information Sector of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization;

Expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for including the International Organization of la Francophonie in the periodic meetings he holds with heads of international and regional organizations, and invites him to continue to do so, taking into account the role played by the International Organization of la Francophonie in conflict prevention and support for democracy and the rule of law, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and sustainable development, and in that regard encourages cooperation in the field between the United Nations, the International Organization of la Francophonie and other international and regional organizations aimed at promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes, including through mediation;

Invites the Secretary-General to continue to involve the International Organization of la Francophonie, taking into account its expertise as well as the Declaration on the French language within the linguistic diversity of la Francophonie, which provides for a mechanism for monitoring commitments based on the work of the French Language Observatory of the International Organization of la Francophonie, in the efforts to promote multilingualism, a core value of the United Nations, bearing in mind the objective of eliminating disparities between the use of English and the use of other official languages within the Organization, including the activities linked to public relations and information, documentation, language services and conference services, human resources management and staff training, as well as the activities affected by those disparities in field offices and peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations;

Recalls the support of the International Organization of la Francophonie to the Secretariat of the United Nations in the development of the United Nations Language Framework issued in 2020 and in the development of trainings aimed at fighting against linguistic bias and promoting multilingualism and linguistic diversity;

Welcomes the concrete contribution that the International Organization of la Francophonie has made to the development of the 2024 United Nations Strategic Framework on Multilingualism by providing high-level expertise, and encourages further collaboration in the implementation of the Framework;

Reaffirms the need to respect the equality of the two working languages of the Secretariat, also reaffirms the use of additional working languages in specific duty stations as mandated, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to ensure that vacancy announcements specify the need for either of the working languages of the Secretariat unless the functions of the post require a specific working language, welcomes the establishment by the International Organization of la Francophonie of a monitoring, alert and action system for the French language and multilingualism in international organizations, and also welcomes the publication in December 2020 of the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the implementation of multilingualism in the United Nations system, in which 13 recommendations are made to the deliberative or governing bodies of United Nations system agencies to improve the effective implementation of this principle;

Emphasizes the paramount importance of the equality of the six official languages of the United Nations and the importance of multilingualism in the activities of the United Nations, and recalls its support for the approach of the Secretary-General to integrate multilingualism, as a core value of the Organization, into the activities of the Secretariat, on an equitable basis;

Invites the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie to strengthen their cooperation and dialogue for the removal of obstacles to multilingualism, a core value of the United Nations, within existing resources, and the implementation of the resolution on multilingualism adopted during the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly;

Considers that the interaction of the United Nations with the local population in the field is essential and that language skills constitute an important element of the selection and training processes, and therefore affirms that a good command of the official language or languages spoken in the country of residence should be taken into account as an important asset during those processes;

Notes the commitment of States members of the International Organization of la Francophonie to promote a balanced multilateral system which assures permanent and equal representation of African member States in decision-making bodies;

Also notes the firm commitment by the member States and Governments of the International Organization of la Francophonie to international peace and security, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, linguistic and cultural diversity, good governance, sustainable development and bridging digital divides between and within countries, as reaffirmed at the nineteenth Summit of la Francophonie, and the commitment of the States members of the International Organization of la Francophonie to take specific actions, as agreed at the nineteenth Summit and set out in the Villers-Cotterêts Declaration, in the following areas:

Support for creation, innovation and entrepreneurship in French;

Promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;

Strengthening of digital and artificial intelligence governance, digital cooperation and information integrity;

Implementation of international commitments in the fields of climate, environment and biodiversity;

Promotion of the use of the French language and linguistic and cultural diversity;

Promotion of peace, democracy and human rights;

Invites the specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, as well as the regional commissions, including the Economic Commission for Africa, to strengthen the cooperation with the International Organization of la Francophonie and its Institute for Sustainable Development of la Francophonie, by identifying new synergies in favour of sustainable development, in particular in the areas of poverty eradication, economic growth, energy, the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, the environment, sustainable agriculture and the global response to climate change, culture, education, training and the development of new information and communications technologies, in particular with a view to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals, to the benefit of all, including children, young people and women;

Welcomes the implementation of the agreement between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and the International Organization of la Francophonie, as well as their cooperation, in particular in such areas as women’s participation in political decision-making and in economic, social and cultural life, advocacy for the equality of women and men, the integration of gender equality into sustainable development, and combating violence and sexual exploitation and abuse against women and girls, as well as in the implementation of the strategy entitled “Equality in law for women and girls by 2030: a multi-stakeholder strategy for accelerated action”, and invites the two institutions to strengthen their cooperation in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Notes the activities implemented within the La Francophonie avec Elles fund, a support fund that provides technical and financial support to women and girls in vulnerable situations so that they have full and equal access to social and economic development, the sixth edition of which was launched in January 2025, and welcomes the action taken by the Equality for Women and Men Unit within the International Organization of la Francophonie, for the purpose of operationalizing the strategy for the promotion of equality between women and men and the rights and empowerment of women and girls in the francophone countries, adopted in October 2018 at the seventeenth Summit of la Francophonie, held in Yerevan;

Recalls the adoption by the Heads of State and Government of countries using French as a common language, at the seventeenth Summit of la Francophonie, of the strategy for the promotion of equality between women and men and the rights and empowerment of women and girls in the francophone countries, which is intended to promote gender equality in the public and private spheres, encourage access for girls and women to high-quality and inclusive education, training, decent work and health, promote their empowerment, prevent and combat all forms of violence, abuse and discrimination committed against them, and promote their full, effective and equal participation in political, economic, cultural and public life, including the prevention and resolution of conflicts;

Welcomes the implementation of the Framework Agreement signed on 7 December 2015 between the International Organization of la Francophonie and the United Nations Development Programme, and their cooperation, particularly in the fields of peace and democracy, sustainable development, climate change, economic development, South-South cooperation and support for civil society, and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, giving priority to job creation and entrepreneurship, as well as inclusive, sustainable and resilient development;

Also welcomes the strengthening of the partnership between the International Organization of la Francophonie and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation for the benefit of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and recalls, in particular, the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the two parties in New York on 25 September 2018, as well as the launch of the Network of Francophone Actors for South-South and Tripartite Cooperation in Rabat in July 2018;

Further welcomes the launch of the Francophone Alliance for Intellectual Property on 2 October 2024, to promote and strengthen the French language in international intellectual property forums, and to complement the cooperation between the World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Organization of la Francophonie based on the memorandum of understanding signed in Geneva on 12 May 2014 between the two organizations aimed at intensifying their technical cooperation efforts for the benefit of their members;

Expresses its gratitude to the International Organization of la Francophonie for the steps it has taken in recent years to promote cultural and linguistic diversity and dialogue between cultures and civilizations, refers to the Yerevan Call on Living Together, endorsed by the Heads of State and Government of countries using French as a common language at the seventeenth Summit of la Francophonie as a document to set forth the principles of living together for the francophone countries and to guide their collective efforts towards enhanced cooperation, solidarity, dialogue and tolerance, and encourages the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie to cooperate more closely to ensure full respect for provisions on multilingualism;

Expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Secretary-General of la Francophonie for their sustained efforts to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the two organizations, thereby serving their mutual interests in the political, economic, social, cultural and environmental fields, in particular in the framework of the joint activities carried out by the International Organization of la Francophonie with the United Nations Environment Programme and with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as well as in the context of developing exchanges between the International Organization of la Francophonie and United Nations Volunteers;

Welcomes the involvement of the countries that use French as a common language, particularly through the International Organization of la Francophonie, in the preparation for, conduct of and follow-up to international conferences organized under the auspices of the United Nations, such as the twenty-ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024, the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024, the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 December 2024, the third United Nations Ocean Conference, held in Nice, France, from 9 to 13 June 2025, and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Sevilla, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July 2025;

Also welcomes the high-level meetings held periodically between the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Secretary-General of la Francophonie, and requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations, acting in cooperation with the Secretary-General of la Francophonie, to encourage the holding of periodic meetings between their representatives as well as with the Group of Francophone Ambassadors at United Nations Headquarters in order to promote the exchange of information, coordination of activities and identification of new areas of cooperation through the use of the French language as a vector for development;

Invites the Secretary-General of the United Nations to take the steps necessary, in collaboration with the Secretary-General of la Francophonie, to continue to promote cooperation between the two organizations;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session a report on the implementation of the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eighty-first session, under the item entitled “Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations”, the sub-item entitled “Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Organization of la Francophonie”.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents