THE CHARTER OF THE FRANCOPHONIE
The current Charter of the Francophonie was adopted at the Seventh Conference of Heads of State and Government of Countries using French as a Common Language, Hanoi (Vietnam), on 15 November 1997, and entered into force in the same year.
PREAMBLE
At the dawn of the 21st century, the world is experiencing extreme political, economic, technological and cultural upheavals. In order to remain visible and useful, the Francophonie needs to adapt to this historical transformation.
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The Charter therefore must be revised in order to entrench the Francophone ideal of liberty and human rights, of justice and solidarity, of democracy, development and progress.
TITLE I: OBJECTIVES
Article 1: Objectives
The Francophonie, aware of the links created among its members by the common use of the French language, and wishing to use these in the service of peace, cooperation and development, has the following objectives: to assist the establishment and development of democracy, the prevention of conflicts, and the support of the rule of law and human rights; to improve dialogue among cultures and civilisations; to encourage rapprochement between peoples through mutual understanding; to strengthen solidarity between them through multilateral cooperation actions aimed at promoting economic growth.
The Francophonie respects the sovereignty of states, their languages and cultures. It is strictly neutral concerning domestic policy issues.
The institutions of the present Charter contribute, in terms of their concerns, towards the realisation of these objectives and the respect of these principles.
The Cultural and Technical Cooperation Agency, created by the Niamey Convention on 20 March 1970, is the Agency of the Francophonie.
Its Charter, as amended below, constitutes the legal support structure of the institutional bodies and instruments of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of Countries using French as a common language. It is the Charter of the Francophonie.
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