First ever “Francophonie” week in Canberra kick started Monday night with inaugural ceremony attended by the diplomats from French speaking nations and prominent figures from economic, cultural and academic fields.
The opening ceremony of “Francophonie” week 2019 was held at the residence HE Karim Medrek, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco.
The Francophonie Committee, made up of Francophone diplomatic missions in Canberra, has organized entire Francophonie Week from the 18th to the 23rd of March 2019. To mark this occasion, many public events being held in Canberra each day throughout this week.
The ceremony started with one minute silence in respect of 50 innocent people killed in a terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday.
Ambassador Karim Medrek while addressing the ceremony said that we are celebrating this determination to promote cultural and linguistic diversity, education, peace, democracy and human rights as well as sustainable development.
“We celebrate, as Francophone, our desire, beyond our differences, to live together and to form a solid society together. It is our desire to take together our common destiny and to manage together our common future”, he said.
He argue that the existence of a francophone platform goes beyond the simple usage of language, being an opportunity of outreach for each of our nations and a progress tool for our peoples.
“The ‘Francophonie’ to which Morocco is strongly attached can contribute to bring responses on facing the challenges of stability and economic development of the member states of this grouping, through the prism of common values and the sharing of French language”, Ambassador Medrek maintained.
Reffering the present day global challenges, he said that in a world in constant evolution, it is more than useful to discuss current issues, especially the challenges related to security, economy, development, climate change and environment.
Ambassador Karim Medrek[/caption]
“Morocco is strongly committed to tackle all these challenges through its action for the stability and security of the region and the efforts it undertakes for the economic development and the preservation of the environment”, he told the audience.
Francophonie represents more than 300 million speakers across 5 different continents. It is also a foundation of solidarity, based on the principles of humanism, democracy and the respect of the diversity of cultures and languages amongst its 88 member states.
Moroccan Ambassador emphasized that there is no living together beyond diversity, beliefs, religion, language, lifestyles and traditions, without taking for granted the disparities in terms of age, economic situation and territories.
“Morocco, aware of the challenges being posed by the imperatives of the living together, has included, in the 2011 Constitution, the diversity of the affluence of the Moroccan nation, as well as the linguistic, regional and religious plurality through Islam and Judaism”, he elaborated.
He said Morocco has become a welcoming land for a number of persons of different backgrounds who chose it for its tradition of hospitality, openness and tolerance.
On Tuesday, the Francophonie Committee organized a conference at Australian National University. On Wednesday a Belgian Film “Keep Going” and on Thursday a Canadian file “Genesis” would be screened.
On Friday, people would enjoy Swiss music besides testing the local cuisines of Francophonie countries.
