At the first meeting of the Villers-Cotterêts commitments monitoring committee, at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs on 6 March, the main project leaders – from the ministries, the operators and the Cité internationale de la langue française – highlighted the vitality of the projects launched at the 19th Francophonie summit in support of a practical, open, dynamic French language.
The Villers-Cotterêts commitments are directly connected to the challenges of our time, in the current international context: young people's employability, artificial intelligence, women's rights, the resilience of the information space, and media education.
Since the 19th Francophonie summit, the road map has been set in motion: the launch of the Francophone alliance for intellectual property; the signature on 8 March, with Quebec's Minister of Francophonie and Equality , of agreements on the Francophone network for women's equality and rights and on the Francophone feminist alliance; and the announcement of France's contribution to the international Francophone mobility and employability programme (PIMEF), promoted by the Francophone University Agency.
In the coming weeks, active efforts by all the stakeholders involved will continue to make several major projects launched at the Villers-Cotterêts summit operational, such as:
- The inauguration of the ALT-EDIC / LANGU:IA language technology centre in Villers-Cotterêts on 20 March and the launch of four projects led by the European consortium (data, language models etc.);
- The creation of the France-Quebec committee for the discoverability of French-language scientific content on 9 April;
- The development of programmes on the TiVi5 youth channel in the Maghreb in the spring;
- The official creation of the Collège international de Villers-Cotterêts for teacher training on 4 June;
- The signature of the tripartite agreement between the National Institute of Industrial Property, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the Permanent Conference of African and Francophone Consular Chambers and Intermediary Organizations, in the framework of the Francophone alliance for intellectual property, at VivaTech on 11 June;
- Map showing training opportunities in the cultural and creative industries to be launched in Rabat in June;
- Launch of the Volunteers united for La Francophonie programme (1) between now and the summer.
With the power of the Francophone players taking them up – as at the trade fair for innovation in French, FrancoTech, which has been placed on a long-term footing and made an annual event in conjunction with the OIF and the Alliance of French-speaking Employers –, the wide-ranging Villers-Cotterêts commitments are directing energies towards a multilateralism that is more necessary than ever.
For M. Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, “The Villers-Cotterêts commitments show that the OIF is at the service of citizens, especially young people, when it comes to building the tools, networks and levers appropriate to a changing world.”
For M. Thani Mohamed-Soilihi, Minister Delegate for Francophonie and International Partnerships, “We're continuing to focus our efforts also on diversifying our partners, in order to ensure the long-term nature of the Villers-Cotterêts summit initiatives, stepping up communication efforts to highlight more effectively to our fellow citizens the impact of these projects.”
(1) Volontaires unis pour la Francophonie – a programme enabling 100 young nationals from OIF member States to travel to other OIF countries to take part in missions in civil-society organizations, local authorities and public bodies, working in the areas of educational cooperation, social entrepreneurship and promoting the values of Francophonie.