Thirteen diplomatic missions in Tanzania are jointly organising
cultural and sport events to celebrate the International Week of the
“Francophonie†starting from March 20th to March 31st, 2012, as well
as the International Day of Francophonie on the 20th of March, 2012.
Fifty Six member states of the International Organisation of
Francophonie (OIF) and 19 observer members who share in the French
language celebrate Francophonie worldwide with an objective of
promoting French language within existing linguistic and cultural
diversity.
Accredited Embassies of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Mozambique, Belgium, Vietnam, Canada, Egypt, Switzerland, France,
Burundi, Rwanda, Consulates of Djibouti, Seychelles and Comoro are
organising various cultural events and lectures to celebrate the
Francophonie at various places of Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Zanzibar.
 The opening ceremony is to be held at Forodhani, Slipway in Masaki –
Dar es Salaam on March 20th, 2012 by H.E. Mr Juma Alfani Mpango,
Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo and will be followed by
a music performance by a Congolese band, Junior Ringo Kalunde & Band.
The Guest of Honour is Hon. Mr.Abdillahi Jihad Hassan, Minister for
Information, Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Revolutionary
Government of Zanzibar.
 On March 23rd, 2012, H.E. the Ambassador of France, Mr. Marcel
Escure, will invite Dr. Samuel Fonkam Azu, President of Election
Cameroon to present the OIF aims to secure democracy, Human Rights and
the rule of Law to prevent conflicts, accompany crisis exit and
transition to democracy and consolidate peace. This symposium will be
held at the Alliance française Dar es Salaam
 On March, 24th, the talented Ivorian singer, dancer and
percussionist Dobet Gnahore will introduce her latest album by
performing on stage at Goethe Institut, Upanga. She will be
accompanied by her musicians.
 Alliance française Dar es Salaam invited, for the occasion, a French
theatre company Cie Pied La Route who will present on March 28th, the
adaptation of the late Ivorian novelist Ahmadou Kourouma’s novel
Allah n’est pas obligé. The stories of a child-soldier and the ones of
real warlords in Liberia and Sierra Leone in early 90’s. The play will
be held in French with English subtitles.
 A competition of French Language has been organised all over the
country since February, gathering more than 1,700 students
participants. The award ceremony will be held at the Alliance
Francaise on the 31st of March.
Under an initiative of three former African Heads of States made in
1970, namely Leopold Senghor of Senegal, Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia,
Hamad Dioro of Niger as well as Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia, 21 member
states agreed on a convention establishing the ACCT which eventually
became OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie) in 1988.
OIF is the organisation of those who share French language, to say it
in French “Ceux qui ont le Français en partage.†The OIF has
political, cultural and economic objectives. Its four missions have
been defined by its members states as follows:
promotion of French language and of linguistic and cultural diversity
promotion of peace, democracy, and human rights
support to education, training, higher education and research
Sustainable development and solidarity.
Today, French is either the first or second language to more than 200
million people worldwide, half of them living in the African continent
and is an official language in most of international and regional
organisations, including the African Union.
In Tanzania, a rising number of students at all levels and of
professionals are learning French. This interest for French language
can only be praised in a country which has several French speaking
neighbours, which endeavours to develop its tourism industry, and
which has shown its strong commitment to participate in African
economical and political integration. Let us highlight that 2 members
of OIF – Rwanda and Burundi – joined the East African Community on the
1st of July 2007. As a result of this interest, a 3 years action plan
(still on going) for the training of teachers of French language has
been designed between the French Government, the Tanzanian Ministry of
Education and Vocational Training, the University of Dar Salaam, and
the Open University of Tanzania, and is currently implemented.
This Francophonie season is an international event to promote cultural
diversity through francophone language. Indeed, French language is the
medium through which a wide range of people and nations express the
variety and the originality of their culture. It is a space for
dialogue, and it grows richer through the contact with other cultures
and languages (English, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, etc). French is a
universal language whose numbers of speakers is continuously growing.
And this dialogue of cultures in a global word which tends towards
uniformisation has a name: cultural diversity.