{"id":5353,"date":"2025-03-26T12:18:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/?p=5353"},"modified":"2025-03-26T12:18:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:18:34","slug":"ghana-commemorates-the-55th-anniversary-of-la-francophonie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/ghana-commemorates-the-55th-anniversary-of-la-francophonie\/","title":{"rendered":"GHANA COMMEMORATES THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF LA FRANCOPHONIE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ghana Commemorated the 55th<\/sup> anniversary of the Organisation International de La Francophonie (OIF) with a flag-raising and tree-planning ceremony at the Forecourt of the State House on Thursday 20th<\/sup> March, 2025 under the theme \u201cI Educate Myself Therefore I Act\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Addressing the gathering, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa(MP), who was the guest of honour, expressed his delight to host Ghana\u2019s commemoration of the La Francophonie Day as a full member of the OIF. He recalled Ghana\u2019s journey towards becoming a member of the organization in 2006 and attaining full membership in 2024, He expressed his profound gratitude to Ambassador\u00a0Thi Hoang Mai,\u00a0the\u00a0West African\u00a0Representative\u00a0of the OIF,\u00a0her team, all OIF members and partners for their support during this transition phase.<\/p>\n

He underscored the importance of Ghana\u2019s geographical location, \u201cas\u00a0a country that is\u00a0situated\u00a0among Anglophone and Francophone Africa, Ghana recognizes the importance of bilingualism and cross-cultural collaboration, thus the decision to seek full membership of the OIF was, driven\u00a0by\u00a0Ghana\u2019s strong historical, political, and economic connections\u00a0to\u00a0her Francophone neighbours, especially C\u00f4te d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Togo, as well as the larger French-speaking world.\u201d Additionally, he stated that the decision was informed\u00a0by the desire to bridge the cultural divide, provide opportunities for\u00a0cultural and educational collaboration,\u00a0enhance diplomatic cooperation, unlock new\u00a0economic opportunities, trade\u00a0and\u00a0investment\u00a0potentials, and promote\u00a0people-to-people interactions within the\u00a0African\u00a0continent and beyond.<\/p>\n

He indicated that this decision perfectly aligned with the vision of His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama\u2019s vision of positioning Ghana\u2019s diplomacy to promote good neighbourliness,\u00a0regional integration, advance Ghana\u2019s interests on the global stage,\u00a0and ensure that our international relations contribute positively to our national development agenda.<\/p>\n

Reaffirming Ghana\u2019s commitment to building bridges between Anglophone and Francophone communities, he stated that Ghana was keen on contributing to regional peace and stability, promoting the shared values of democracy, human rights, cultural diversity, and sustainable development. Commenting on the relevance of theme for this year\u2019s celebration, \u201cI educate myself, therefore I act\u201d<\/em><\/strong>, he highlighted the crucial role education played in the constantly evolving world, characterized\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0effects\u00a0of\u00a0climate change,\u00a0global health crises,\u00a0economic\u00a0inequality,\u00a0social injustice, and technological disparity. Adding that, it was the reminder for developing countries like Ghana\u00a0that\u00a0access to good quality\u00a0education\u00a0is\u00a0critical for\u00a0an\u00a0inclusive development that guarantees the well-being and prosperity of its citizens.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, the Hon Minister expressed the hope that Ghana\u2019s full membership of the OIF would contribute to reconciliation and peace-building within the organization and reaffirmed Ghana\u2019s commitment to La Francophonie\u2019s principles and aspirations for a fair, just, and inclusive world.<\/p>\n

Delivering his address, H. E. \u00a0Maher Kheir, the Lebanese Ambassador to Ghana, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and President of the La Francophonie Ambassador\u2019s Group, used the opportunity to congratulate Ghana on the attainment of full membership of the Organisation de La Francophonie (OIF) and emphasized\u00a0 \u00a0the significance of bilingualism in enhancing Ghana\u2019s diplomatic, economic, and educational prospects. While commending the Ministry of Education for its initiative on a bilingual education in schools across the country, He envisioned that this initiative would nurture in few years to come, a new generation of young Ghanaians highly competitive on the job market.<\/p>\n

He used the opportunity to invite the gathering to participate in the Francophone Festival from 22nd<\/sup> March to 13th<\/sup> April, 2025 to experience the richness of the francophone world through music, poetry, theatre, cinema, gastronomy among others, while encouraging the gathering to engage in meaningful discussions on how to build together, a future of cooperation, innovation, and shared prosperity. He mentioned that \u201cas we celebrate La Francophonie today, we honor not only the French language but also the incredible cultural diversity it brings together, creating a space where differences are not barriers but bridges; where dialogue, understanding, and cooperation thrived across continents\u201d<\/p>\n

The highlight of the ceremony was the hoisting of the flags of Ghana and the OIF and a tree-planting exercise with the Minister of Education, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, the Chairperson of the parliamentary select committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Oko Vanderpuye, and Osu-Alata Mantse, \u00a0Nii Kobina Bonney in attendance. The rest were Senior Officials and men of the security forces, government officials, the members of the Diplomatic Corps, some selected schools and media houses.<\/p>\n

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Ghana Commemorated the 55th anniversary of the Organisation International de La Francophonie (OIF) with a flag-raising and tree-planning ceremony at the Forecourt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5354,"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5353\/revisions\/5354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfa.gov.gh\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}