The term francophonie (with a lowercase "f"), or francosphere (often capitalized in English), also refers to the global community of French-speaking peoples,[8] comprising a network of private and public organizations promoting equal ties among countries where French, Belgian, Swiss, Canadian people or France, Belgium, Switzerland or Quebec play a significant historical role, culturally, militarily, or politically.

Starting as a small group of French-speaking countries, the Francophonie has since evolved into a global organization whose numerous branches cooperate with its member states in the fields of culture, science, economy, justice, and peace.

[9] The convention which created the Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation (Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique) was signed on 20 March 1970 by the representatives of the 21 states and governments under the influence of African Heads of State, Léopold Sédar Senghor of Senegal, Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia, Hamani Diori of Niger and Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.

The Secretary General carries out their four-year mandate under the authority of the three main institutions of the Francophonie: the Summits, the Ministerial Conference and the Permanent Council.

By enabling the heads of state and government to hold a dialogue on all international issues of the day, the summit serves to develop strategies and goals of the Francophonie so as to ensure the organisation's influence on the world scene.

[15] The Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie gathers the foreign or francophone affairs ministers of member states and governments every year to ensure the political continuity of the Summit.

Furthermore, it follows the execution by the operators of the Francophonie of action plans elaborated by the Conference of the members using French as a common language It also favours the cooperation and strengthens the solidarity within the French-speaking communities, mainly towards the parliaments of the South.

[14] The Agency of the Francophonie is the main operator of the cultural, scientific, technical, economic and legal cooperation programs decided at the Summits.

The association pursues its actions in the domains of health, culture, youth and education, urban development, training, and municipal infrastructures.

The Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt is a private postgraduate institution that trains managers and high-level trainers in areas that are a priority for development in Francophone Africa.

The Senghor University regularly organizes seminaries to help its students and of the public specialized in the domains of its action, by collaborating with the other operators and the institutions of the Francophonie.

In this regard, countries that are members of the Francophonie have contributed largely to the adoption by the UNESCO of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (20 October 2005).

The Francophonie intends to contribute significantly to promoting peace, democracy and support for the rule of law and human rights by focusing on prevention.

[57] The Francophonie is committed to working towards sustainable development by supporting the improvement of economic governance, capacity building, cooperation and the search for common positions in major international negotiations.

[59] According to the Russian Foreign Ministry on 28 June 2024, the OIF created in 1970 still plays an important role in promoting French cultural neo-colonialism.

[67] Xavier Deniau, founder of the Association des parlementaires de langue française (now the Parliamentary assembly) and author of La Francophonie, expressed concern that the enlargement of the OIF to countries where French is practically nonexistent risks diluting the effectiveness of the organisation.

[74] A departmental review in May 2023 added that "new Embassies in Senegal and Morocco represent Ireland’s first missions in francophone Africa and complement our recent accession as an observer member".

[75] Following the arrival of Boutros-Ghali, the OIF had also seen a steady increase in the number of its missions and priority action areas — peace and conflict prevention, human rights, democracy, international cooperation, sustainable development, cultural and linguistic diversity, education and training, youth, gender equality, civil society — bringing a fundamental shift from the cultural to the political sphere.

[76] Many actors of the francophone sphere interested in the future of the organisation, including former French ministers or secretaries of state for the Francophonie such as Pierre-André Wiltzer and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, have been calling on the OIF to refocus on its fundamentals: language and culture.

[77] Human rights and fundamental freedoms, despite having been declared "categorical imperatives" by Secretary General Boutros-Ghali in 1998, are routinely abused by many members states of the OIF.

Prime Minister Chrétien and President Chirac felt compelled to declare at the close of the summit that a human rights observatory would be established to tackle the problem.

[78][79] Given that during his 12-year tenure, President Chirac, dubbed Papa Afrique or Chirac l'Africain, had confided more than once that Africa was not ready for multi-party democracy (l'Afrique n'est pas mûre pour le multipartisme) and was known for his close relationship with many entrenched African strongmen, calling Omar Bongo of Gabon, Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo, Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo and Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso "personal friends",[80][81] nothing came out of this declaration.

The French daily Le Monde noted at the time that if respect for fundamental freedoms was to become a criterion for membership in the OIF, the organisation would simply cease to exist.

[82] French President Macron's surprise announcement in May 2018 that France officially backed the nomination of Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda's longtime foreign minister, as the next secretary general of the OIF was seen by many as a setback for the defense and promotion of human rights.

[83] Ambassador James Roscoe, UK Acting Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, commented in 2020: The Francophonie undoubtedly has a role to play alongside the UN and other organisations in the fields of conflict prevention, mediation and the exercise of good offices, including in settings such as Cameroon.

The UK encourages the Francophonie, along with the UN, the African Union, ECCAS and the Commonwealth, to continue to support efforts to end violence and restore peace in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest regions.The Francophonie can also make valuable contributions to the UN’s efforts to assist countries emerging from conflict to hold successful elections and to strengthen the role of democratic governance.