Francophonie: Rwandan Louise Mushikiwabo takes office as General Secretary

11 January 2019 French language

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Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwandan minister of Foreign Affairs took office as General Secretary of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF). She was appointed by French-speaking heads of State and governments during the Summit of Erevan in October.

The French Republic’s president published a tweet a few days ago to congratulate Louise Mushikiwabo: "Let’s work together to change French into one of the most spoken languages worldwide and French speakers into a political community at global scale".

Defined as the “keystone of the Francophonie’s institutional scheme” by the OIF charter, the General Secretary leads the political action of Francophonie, of which she is the official spokesperson and representative.

During the first press conference following her election, Louise Mushikiwabo underlined that: “I’m not joining the Francophonie to make miracles. But I’m convinced that our organisation is at a crossroads.

The world we’re living in is unpredictable. This is a world lacking humanity, but also a world where opportunities are huge. And for me, my mission, my plan, my ambition, is to put this common Organisation that is La Francophonie where it should be. This means I’d like to put La Francophonie where it can make a difference.”

Louise Mushikiwabo was elected for a four-year term, and is the OIF’s fourth General Secretary, after Egyptian Boutros Boutros Ghali (1997-2002), Senegalese Abdou Diouf (2002-2014), and Canadian Michaëlle Jean (2014-2018).