A “Francophonie of the future”. The summit of the 88 member countries of the French-speaking bloc ended in Tunisia on Sunday with the stated aim of having more influence on the resolution of crises, particularly in Africa.

“Djerba did not disappoint…Tunisia did not disappoint,” said Secretary General of the International Organization of Francophonie (OIF), Louise Mushikiwabo, during a press conference at the end of the summit.

“We are on the way to a Francophonie of the future, modernized, much more relevant,” she added.

On the island of Djerba, Sunday work was largely dedicated to “citizen distrust”, with the populace fed up with the political “turmoil”, particularly in West Africa where the recent state was in Mali or Burkina Faso.

“All conflict zones were the subject of long debates,” explained the former head of Rwandan diplomacy when asked about tensions between the DRC and Rwanda or between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“La Francophonie is an organization that supports, a catalyst” to work, “to mediate between the parties to the conflict,” she stressed.

But this organization with limited budgetary resources acts primarily through “technical support”, for example in the preparation of elections.

And when it comes to conflict resolution, the OIF works “subsidiarily with the regional organizations that are closer to the conflicts”.

On the other hand, the leaders gathered in Djerba want, in their opinion, “to continue the reflection to improve the relationship between citizens and rulers in a much more inclusive format” and to be open to civil societies.

At the request of President Emmanuel Macron, the Djerba Declaration adopted at the end of the summit also contains a “clear statement”, the content of which was not disclosed, on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, there is no consensus on this burning issue on the African continent, where some countries are very close to Russia and regret Western eagerness to help Ukraine, faced with disinterest in their own crises.

The summit also re-elected Ms Mushikiwabo, the only candidate, as head of the OIF for a new four-year term and nominated France as President of Francophonie in 2024, succeeding Tunisia.

For Leila Slimani, Mr Macron’s special representative, the meeting gave “a new breath” to the Francophonie, an area of ​​321 million speakers that is expected to double in size by 2050 thanks to African demographics.

In her opinion, Francophonie must “position itself more strongly for multilateralism” and “tackle new global issues”, be it the climate or political crises.

– “Language Battle” –

Rejecting “any language battle”, Ms Mushikiwabo pointed out that all countries except France practice different idioms and called for investing on the African continent and improving French education.

Another project: strengthening the presence of French on the Internet and in international organizations where the Molière language is in decline, also within the European block of the OIF, the second largest (19 countries) after Africa (32 countries).

According to the Secretary General, the OIF also wants to strengthen “economic Francophonie”, increased cooperation within the French-speaking world, which will particularly affect digital technology, one of the main themes of the summit, which will be extended by an economic forum until ” until Monday.

In particular, the plan is to train 250,000 young people, promote SMEs and French-speaking missions, such as those that took 200 economic operators to Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Cambodia, two OIF member countries, Rwanda and Gabon.

Regarding women’s entrepreneurship, another theme of the summit, the head of the OIF called on member states to allocate more resources to the projects of the “La Francophonie with them” fund.

Tunisian President Kais Saied, host of the summit, said he was convinced that the French-speaking world would be able to “translate our commitments into actions of solidarity and concrete achievements that will benefit our peoples, especially our women and our youth “.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he spoke with other leaders about the political crisis that has rocked Tunisia since Mr Saied’s coup 16 months ago. “Canada is concerned about the current situation” in Tunisia and “about a decline in democracy around the world,” he told Canadian media.