EU – Baltic States, Forum, Latvia, Legislation

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 19:17

Latvian MFA signs a cooperation memorandum with the International Organisation of La Francophonie

BC, Riga, 12.10.2015.Print version
On 10-11 October 2015, the Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics took part in the 31st session of the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) in Yerevan, Armenia, at which a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the OIF and 11 countries including Latvia, reports BC the Latvian MFA.

The Minister said that Latvia supports the IOF values. We welcome, the Minister said, the role of La Francophonie in response to present-day challenges to peace, security and the fight against the root causes of migration. In the face of these challenges, it is of vital importance to build and sustain the links of direct communication between the south and the north of the Francophone world, including to promote dialogue in the fields of socio-economic development and security, Minister Rinkevics emphasised.

 

The Latvian Foreign Minister expressed his conviction that Latvia will be making its contributions to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and outlined the main priorities for Latvia on the global policy agenda: human rights, the rule of law, good governance and gender equality. Therefore, he said, Latvia welcomes the adoption of a universal framework for action – the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Foreign Minister Rinkevics said he highly valued the 2030 Agenda as the first ever global agreement highlighting the role of justice, peace and good governance for sustainable development.

 

Latvia held the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2015, and during that period, we actively promoted gender equality in the EU development cooperation policy. We produced policy planning documents aimed at confirming the EU’s strong commitment to gender equality and eradication of discrimination, said Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics.

 

The Latvian Foreign Minister also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the OIF and 11 countries (Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia) providing for cooperation on extending the knowledge of French among diplomats and public officials working with international affairs. Cooperation is to take place as set out in this memorandum, and it is based on the “National Francophone Initiative”. The National Francophone Initiative outlines specific actions, both new ones and those complementing the current measures, with the aim of strengthening La Francophonie, improving the teaching of the French language, its use and visibility in the institutions of public administration. These actions will be assessed on an annual basis, and the relevant budget can be revised within the limits of the funds available.

 

Background information: The International Organisation of La Francophonie (l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie – l’OIF) represents one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world that unites the governments of countries and federal territories using the French language on a daily basis or wishing to strengthen its presence in the community, and committed to cooperate on the promotion of democracy and universal values across the globe.

 

The OIF currently has 80 member states: 54 of them are full members, three are associate members, and 23 have observer status.

 

Geographically, the OIF spans Europe, Western, Central and Northern Africa, the Middle East, the Americas and the Caribbean, Asiaand the Pacific Ocean regions. The organisation was created on 20 March 1970 and was given its current name in 1998.

 

Latvia was admitted as observer to the International Organisation of the Francophonie at the 12th Summit of the Francophone Countries held in Quebec, Canada, from 17 to19 October 2008.






Search site