At the time this article was
written Marc Leman was Chief of the Political and Social Affairs Division of
the Research Branch of the Library of Parliament.
Since its inception in 1967, the
International Association (now Assembly) of French-Speaking Parliamentarians
(AIPLF) has been at the very heart of the worldwide French-speaking community.
In 1992, it will be 25 years since delegates from 23 countries (including
Canada) on four continents (Europe, Africa, North America and Asia) met in
Luxembourg and founded the AIPLF. In September the Assembly will meet in Canada
for the fourth time. This article outlines the history and organization of the
AIPLF.
The idea of creating an
interparliamentary association whose members would be nations using French as
their language of expression or of work, and thereby assuring their cultural
co-operation and facilitating solidarity and fraternity, was to a great extent
the inspiration of Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor, one of the
fathers of the modern French-speaking community. This statesman spoke of
"la francophonie" as world-embracing humanism, a symbiosis of the
energies dormant in all continents and races and awakened by their mutual warm
feelings.1 In the early 1960s, President Senghor suggested uniting the
parliaments of all the countries where French was spoken in an
interparliamentary association. A similar association which included
parliamentarians from the Commonwealth countries was already in existence and
had official status.
It was the French geographer
Onésime Reclus who, in 1887, was the first to use the expressions
"francophone" and "francophonie", in a ground-breaking
attempt to classify peoples by language. At the time, he saw that French could not
retain its role as the primary international language because of its limited
demographic weight2 But the two words fell into oblivion, and it was not until
the start of the 1960s that they were to re-appear and earn the right to be
cited in dictionaries.
Nonetheless, the idea of the
extended French-speaking community built up by a family of peoples sharing both
a language and certain ideals, and eager for solidarity and reciprocity,
emerged just after the Second World War, first in the form of non-governmental
organizations or associations. This is an important fact: the francophone
movement is not something artificial, generated by an international convention,
but rather an aspiration that came from the grass-roots level and took the form
of a large number of international associations, such as the Union
internationale des journalistes et de la presse de langue française (UIJPLF),
founded in 1952; the Fédération internationale des professeurs de français
(FIPF), founded in 1959, the Association des universités partiellement ou
entierement de langue francais (AUPELF), created in 1961; and the AIPLF,
founded in 1967. These non-governmental organizations created the conditions
and the climate that would later make possible the emergence of the first
official governmental organizations for the worldwide francophone community,
such as the Conférence des ministres de l'éducation (CONFEMEN) in 1960; the
Agence de cooperation culturelle et technique (ACCT) in 1970; and, more
recently, the Francophone Summits, which began in 1986.
The founding delegates gave the
AIPLF essentially a cultural mission, that of "encouraging all activities
tending to promote French language and culture and through the French language
to establish the cultural life of peoples who normally use the French language
without being French in culture or civilization." This mission matched the
vision that the fathers of the French-speaking community then held. Referring
directly to the dialogue between different cultures, President Senghor wrote, "This
French-speaking community can both embody and convey the values of Blackness
and of Arabness, of Asia and of the Americas, and be a place where the
constellations of their own cultures can shine." 3 Some years later, at
the Vth General Assembly (held in Dakar, Senegal), the statutes of what was
then still called the Association were amended so that its objectives included
not only cultural but also economic and social concerns. The amended statutes
asserted that the AIPLF "intends, by studying cultural, economic and
social questions of common interest:
to establish close co-operation
among member parliamentarians, in order to strengthen the mutual solidarity
deriving from the use of the French language; and
to contribute to the establishment of
an effective cross-cultural dialogue."
During the 1980s, in the wake of
the Summits, the AIPLF had to define precisely the part it could play within
the francophone community. An ad hoc commission set up in 1988 had the mandate
of defining the Apple’s role as an interparliamentary organization for the
French-speaking community, such as the heads of state and governments had
called for at the first Francophone Summit, held in Paris in 1986. Thus, the
heads of state and government wished "the AIPLF to evolve towards a status
more in keeping with what it represented and to play the role of
interparliamentary organization for the French-speaking community". The ad
hoc commission recommended that the Association should become an Assembly - the
International Assembly of French-Speaking Parliamentarians. The commission felt
that the word "Assembly" expressed the idea of a body that in the
context of the Francophone Summits and their established mechanisms gives
priority to deliberation and consultation. In short, what the AIPLF wanted was
to be recognized as the French-speaking community's parliamentary assembly.
The third Francophone Summit, which
met in Dakar in May 1989, emphasized the AIPLF's special place in defining the
francophone community and confirmed its vocation as the community's only
parliamentary organization. The Summit passed the following resolution:
The heads of state and government
wish to acknowledge officially the eminent role that the AIPLF, the francophone
community's only interparliamentary organization, plays in the building-up and
development of la francophonie. The representation it provides to our
parliaments, the influence it exerts on opinion and the co-operative actions it
has launched are an important stimulus for the success of the Summits'
proposals. We therefore 4 request the International Follow-up Committee to
organize consultation and the exchange of information. 5
Thus situated, the AIPLF could
evolve into the deliberative institution of the French-speaking community and a
link between the Summits and the parliaments and peoples. As the elected
representatives of the world's French-speaking peoples, the members of the
AIPLF are called upon to convey to the decisionmakers the profound aspirations
of those peoples and to help bring about their fulfilment. The President of the
AIPLF evoked this role in an article published in the journal Parlements et
Francophonie in early 1988:
Our present vocation calls us to go
beyond our role as the francophone community's deliberative body or as simply a
witness to and security for the expansion of its influence. As representatives
of our peoples, we have the legitimacy that is required to follow up on the
political execution of Summit decisions and to advise the heads of state and
government on new policy orientations. Our duties also include transmitting the
message of the Summits to our peoples.
Clearly, since its inception, the
AIPLF has developed along lines that could lead to its becoming an intermediary
between the public and the other partners in the international francophone
community. Moreover, the AIPLF has several other achievements to its credit.
Over the years, it has developed instruments and institutions capable of
generating true interparliamentary co-operation among its member sections,
furthering an authentic dialogue, and promoting fairer and more egalitarian
economic co-operation.
Symbols of Solidarity Between
Peoples
Communication is the essential way
by which the Apple’s member sections, regions and administrative bodies, and
the francophone communities they represent, remain in touch and exchange ideas
among themselves; it is the means by which they develop and blossom. The
principal channels of communication in the AIPLF are the general and regional
assemblies, the Executive, the Commissions, the General Secretariat and La
Revue, and the sending of missions.
The General Assemblies
The Apple’s special means of
communication is the holding of regular General Assemblies, to which the member
sections are invited. 7 Since its founding, the AIPLF has held 17 General
Assemblies, usually in a different country or place each time. The first met in
Versailles in 1968. Others were held successively in Abidjan (1970),
Montreal-Ottawa-Quebec City (1971), Dakar (1973), Brussels (1974) and Mauritius
(1975). In 1976, for the first time, a special session was held elsewhere than
in a member nation: the VIIth General Assembly met at UN Headquarters in New
York City, and was opened by the UN Secretary General. The VIIIth General
Assembly, marking the Apple’s 10th anniversary, was held in Paris the following
year. Since then, there have been General Assemblies in Gabon (1978), Geneva at
the headquarters of the International Labour Organization (1979), Ottawa
(1980), Dakar (1982), Jersey (1983) and Réunion (1984). The XVth was held in
Quebec City (1986), the XVIth in Yaoundé (1988). The most recent was in Paris
in 1989, on the occasion of the Bicentennial of the French Revolution and the
Declaration of the Rights of Man. About 200 parliamentarians gathered from more
than 40 countries on four continents.
The General Assembly might be
called the AIPLFs supreme body. The by-laws describe it as the appropriate
place for exchanging information, debate, and proposals on all subjects of
common interest. As such, it maintains permanent relations with the
institutions and organizations (whether governmental or not) active in the
worldwide French-speaking community. It keeps abreast of all issues arising
from the preparations for and follow-up to the Summits of heads of state and
government of countries which have in common the use of French. It makes
recommendations directed at strengthening solidarity among French-speaking
peoples.8
During the General Assemblies, the
parliamentarians meet in various commissions (these are now standing bodies):
Policy and General Administration, Parliamentary Affairs, Cultural Activities
and Co-operation and Development. There they discuss matters of common
interest, assess the results that have been achieved, and submit to the General
Assembly recommendations that, if approved, will constitute resolutions. Since
the Francophone Summits began to be held, such resolutions have been designed
primarily to impress a parliamentary viewpoint on the actions proposed at the
meetings of heads of state and government.
Contacts between parliamentarians
can only favour the healthy development of interparliamentary relations. As
representatives of the people and leaders in the worlds of business, the
liberal professions and many other fields, parliamentarians are in an excellent
position to know the standards and needs of the societies they serve. In
discussions with their counterparts, parliamentarians can deepen their
knowledge of other countries and of areas that interest them, take note of solutions
that other people have found for common problems, and establish friendly
relations that will put co-operation on a still firmer footing. In addition,
parliamentarians can provide liaison among the governments and groups that want
to enlarge the horizons of inter-nation and multilateral co-operation.
The General Assemblies have been
the occasions of fruitful thinking about the fundamental concerns and problems
of the worldwide francophone community. The relevance of the themes tackled in
the Assembly, and in the standing commissions, has led to lively interchanges
of views, illustrated with examples and references to the daily reality in the
French-speaking world9
Regional Assemblies
Regional Assemblies are another
means of promoting contacts and communication between member sections of the
AIPLF at the regional level. Toward the end of the 1970s, at a time when the
AIPLF was experiencing substantial growth, the idea of decentralization began
to take hold. The Assembly became progressively more international in nature at
the same time as it saw the emergence of regions delineated by geographic
proximity, cultural similarities or a common historic background. Europe,
America and Africa were thus perceived as distinct sub-entities within the
larger AIPLF family, possessing their own personality and dynamism and acting
on a practical level as an intermediary authority or link with the
organization.
In the initial phase of the
regionalization of the AIPLF, positions of regional chargés de missions were
created. They ensure that the Association is represented within regional
institutions and agencies and oversee Assembly activities in the different
regions and serve as a link between the General Secretariat of the AIPLF in
Paris and the regional sections. The unique feature of the decentralization
process is that all sections within a given region, each with its own national
characteristics, can take credit and are responsible for the development of the
francophone community and its offshoots.
The stature of the Regional
Assemblies grew with the holding of the first Regional Assembly of the Americas
in Ottawa in October 1981. The European Region held its first Regional Assembly
in April 1983 (in Arras, France), while the Africa Region held its first
Assembly in February 1984 (Kinshasa, Zaire). These Assemblies, which were
organized and co-ordinated by the heads of mission and the regional
administrative secretaries, confirmed their purpose, which is to make sections
from the same regions aware of one another's existence and similarities and
thus to step up exchanges. The organization of activities at the regional level
allows the small sections or those that are less well provided for to
participate there, when they are not able to do so at the international level.
Over the years, the Americas Region has clearly shown its dynamism by holding
eight Regional Assemblies; the European Region has held five Assemblies, while
the Africa Region has held two.
The General Secretariat, The
Executive and La Revue
The General Secretariat of the
AIPLF oversees the administration of the organization. It consists of a general
parliamentary secretary, a general administrative secretary and a deputy
general administrative secretary, as well as four advisors to the standing
commissions, to carry out, in co-operation with the chargés de mission, the
various co-ordination, communication and liaison activities with member
sections and the regions. Working under the Executive,10 the General Secretary
is responsible for the implementation of the decisions (resolutions) of the
General Assembly and the Executive.
In addition to the biannual
meetings of the Executive for the purpose of organizing, planning and
co-ordinating the Assembly proceedings, the AIPLF puts out a publication called
La Revue, in order to maintain regular contacts and ensure follow-ups with
member sections. La Revue des parlementaires de langue française, which was
renamed Parlements et Francophonie early in 1985, is a concrete way of
sustaining contacts with member sections. Published quarterly by the General
Secretariat, La Revue is a high quality information vehicle. It covers abroad
range of activities: general reports of the international and regional
assemblies, including resolutions, statements and important speeches by leaders
of the world and regional francophone community; reports of Francophone
Summits, including preparatory and discussion papers submitted to participants;
signage and succinct summaries of activities, conferences and symposiums
conducted by the chief organizations and associations of the world francophone
community; in-depth articles on the world and regional francophone community,
current parliamentary activities, etc.
Multilateral and Bilateral
Missions
Missions are another privileged
intervention mechanism in addition to the various other means of communication.
Basically, the purpose of missions is to encourage new sections to become
members; to reawaken the fervour of less enthusiastic sections and to encourage
them to maintain and develop their participation in the AIPLF; to see firsthand
the problems encountered by francophone communities; and to maintain personal
ties between parliamentarians. Early after the founding of the AIPLF,
parliamentarians expressed an interest in organizing missions and in 1973, the
very first was sent to Niger, Upper Volta and the Ivory Coast. Subsequent
missions were organized: to Haiti in 1974; to Lebanon, Syria and Iran in 1975;
to Greece, Quebec, Zaire and Cameroon in 1978; and to Brazil in 1979. In all,
18 similar missions comprising parliamentarians from Europe, Africa and America
traveled to various countries on each of these continents. Moreover, since the
creation of the regions, the organization of missions has been largely taken
over by the chargés de mission who act as intermediaries between the General
Secretary and the sections in their respective regions. In the Americas Region,
several regional missions have been constituted over the years to promote and
expand the circle of regional members.
Bilateral missions emphasizing
direct contact between members of two or more sections in different regions
have been formally established over the years. The groundwork for exchanges of
this nature was laid by the Canadian, Quebec, French, Belgian, Senegalese and Cameroonian
sections. These missions have promoted close ties and lasting friendships
between members of these sections. They were likely responsible for the signing
of bilateral agreements between the national assemblies of Quebec and France
and between the Government of Quebec and the Conseil culturel de la communauté
francais de Belgique, establishing a joint co-operation commission.
Over the years, the AIPLF has
sought to maintain strong, friendly ties and to co-operate with other
francophone associations and organizations. Among other things, the AIPLF has
developed specialties and co-operated on particular projects with the AUPELF
the Biennale de la langue francais, the fédération internationale des
professeurs de francais and the Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation.
Moreover, the AIPLF played a decisive role in the Agency's creation, which had
been proposed at the first General Assembly in Versailles in 1968. The AIPLF
has numerous and varied contacts with a number of other world and regional
francophone associations and bodies. AIPLF parliamentarians and officials
participate regularly in meetings and symposia organized by major francophone
associations.
The Assembly is officially
accredited with international organizations such as UNESCO and the United
Nations Economic and Social Council. It has also been granted a consultative
status by the Council of Europe and has been registered on the special list of
non-governmental organizations accredited by the International Labour
Organization. The AIPLF maintains normal ties with the Assembly of European
Communities, the Commission of European Economic Communities, the Union of
African Parliaments, and with major inter-parliamentary associations such as
the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
Parliamentary Co-operation: A
New Approach
The decisive step in the direction
of parliamentary exchanges and co-operation was taken at the IXth General Assembly
held in Libreville, Gabon in 1978. The AIPLF passed a resolution affirming its
desire:
to promote the bilateral and
multilateral exchange of parliamentary experience, through the activities of
the respective sections or those of the Assembly; to bring about, on a
bilateral level, the signing of interparliamentary agreements of a cultural,
economic, social, legislative or technical nature and the creation of
friendship groups; to promote through the AIPLF genuine multilateral or
bilateral co-operation with a view to enhancing the operation and work methods
of our parliaments; to keep the General Secretariat of the AIPLF informed of
projects and achievements. 12
Since passing the Libreville
resolution establishing the foundations of interparliamentary co-operation, the
AIPLF has sought to define and lay down a framework for action to facilitate
exchanges between parliaments. In 1981, the General Secretariat drafted a code
for interparliamentary co-operation between new and former parliaments. The code
focused on three main areas: parliamentary services (services that oversee the
organization of parliamentary activities, that is, the work of the House,
legislation and parliamentary commissions, and documentation and archival
services available to parliamentarians); communication services and
interparliamentary relations (including basically the publication and the
dissemination of parliamentary documents, the press service, public relations,
radio and television broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings, and
interparliamentary relations); and administrative services such as financial
services and personnel management.13
The code has brought to light the
different levels on which interparliamentary co-operation can take place and
has demonstrated that the nature of the co-operative initiative varies
according to the age and traditions of each Parliament. Newly-created
assemblies are primarily in need of material and technical support and of
training sessions for their officials, while older parliaments require general
documentation on the administrative organizations of parliaments, seminars and
educational missions for their officials.
The code has served as a backdrop
for launching a range of co-operative initiatives between parliaments of the
North and South, and between parliaments with similar traditions within the
same regions. One well-known initiative is the training provided to
parliamentary information officers, the result of a co-operative effort between
the AIPLF and the Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation. Training and
development sessions are held at the école internationale de Bordeaux. The
study sessions result in the establishment of information exchange networks
between parliaments and lead to parliamentary internships.
As la Francophonie is a microcosm
of North-South relations, the AIPLF has taken on the goal of promoting and
initiating stronger ties and relations between the sections from the various
continents with a view to devising joint development programs which would form
the basis of recommendations to the respective governments. Most initiatives
focus on one of the following two areas: first, the operation of existing
political institutions and the consideration of proposals for improving the
operation of parliamentary institutions; second, the world political and
economic order, in particular the socio-economic problems of disadvantaged
nations.
The contribution of the standing
commissions is significant. For example, the Parliamentary Commission has
turned its attention to the question of the public financing of political
parties and election campaigns. In light of the central role of political
parties in ensuring the survival and stability of democratic institutions,
delegates have ratified a resolution recommending the adoption of legislative
provisions which would allow -a reasonable limit on election expenses and
disclosure of the financing of political parties,"14 including the control
to be exercised by a public body. Other parliamentary-related issues have also been
studied by the Parliamentary Commission. Election techniques, in particular the
investiture of candidates and voting methods and the participation of women in
parliamentary life have been the subject of discussions and reports. More
recently, the Commission focused its attention on the access of parliaments to
a modern documentation network. In so doing, the AIPLF wanted to demonstrate
how important it was for the people's representatives to have access to
comprehensive, reliable information in order to fulfil their two-fold mission
of drafting legislative standards and exercising executive control. The
proposed interparliamentary documentation network will involve two types of
initiatives to be carried out in a parallel manner. The first project component
is the development of documentary services for parliaments of the South and the
second is the Centre for Comparative Parliamentary Data.
The Co-operation and Development
Committee is notably interested in audiovisual co-operation. It is associated
with the Institut de coopération audio-visuelle francophone and has established
closer ties with the International Centre for Cormmunication so as to support
audiovisual activities in African countries, working with European nations, and
in francophone America. Working through this Commission, the AIPLF has also
become deeply interested in developments in the Sahel region, which is
periodically affected by scourge of drought. The essential idea behind the
Apple’s commitment to co-operation and development issues is that
parliamentarians, whether from the North or South, can see for themselves that
the projects undertaken are appreciated and carried through and that they truly
correspond to the needs of the people. The presence of parliamentarians ensures
the development of a genuine knowledge of the countries to which assistance is
being provided and thus may prevent the inconsistencies that have been seen in
some forms of aid. The Committee has also looked at the issue of literacy and
the struggle to fight illiteracy in countries in the South. The resolutions
passed by the AIPLF in this area have helped to promote respect for the
individual, as well as the economic, social and cultural development of the
countries concerned. More recently the AIPLF has been the forum for debate on
the idea of a francophone economic area.
Notes
Quoted in Philippe Decraene,
"Les chances de la francophonie," Le Devoir, 20 February 1969.
2. Reclus also noted that English
was going to be called upon to play a more important role, given its considerable
demographic weight and in particular the entry of the United States on to the
world stage.
3. Quoted in Georges Dussault,
"La francophonie: une réalité mal connue," L'Action nationale, Vol.
76, January 1987, p. 434.
4. The International Follow-Up
Committee is the body responsible for implementing Summit decisions.
5. Quoted in Parlements et
Francophonie, 2nd quarter 1989, No. 73, p. 99-100.
6. Martial Asselin, "Une
vision plus globale de la francophonie," Parlements et Francophonie, I st
quarter 1988, p. 6.
7. At the present time, there are
34 sections, formed within the following Parliaments: Brazil, Cameroon, Canada,
Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Communauté franqaise de Belgique,
Djibouti, Egypt, France, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Jersey, Jura, Lebanon,
Luxembour& Mah, Manitoba, Mauritius, Monaco, Morocco, New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Rwanda, Senegal, Switzerland, Syria, Togo, Tunisia,
Valle d'Aosta, Vanuatu, Zaire. The AIPLF also has three associate sections
(Andorra, Louisiana and Maine).
8. AIPLF, Reglement de l’Assemblée,
September 1989, Article 2.
9. A few examples will illustrate
how closely the choice of themes has reflectedlifein the francophone community:
"TheSocial Implications of Development" (VIIth General Assembly, UN,
1976); "The French Language: Its Role and Influence in the World" and
"Co-operation Through FrancophoneAssociations" (VlIIth General
Assembly, Paris, 1977); 'Management and Development," "Instruction in
French as a First and a Second Language" and "Continuing Education:
Literacy, Retraining and the Fight Against Unemployment" (XVth General
Assembly, Quebec City, 1986); "A Francophone Economic Area" (XVIth
General Assembly, Yaounde, 1988).
10. The General Assembly delegates
authority to the Executive, the executive body of the AIPLF which, between
sessions, oversees the implementation of the decisions made by the General
Assembly. It is made upof representatives of the 15 member sections and meets
twice a year.
11. Since 1975, the AIPLFhas been
linked to the Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation through a
memorandum of understanding and co-operation. Moreover, the AIPLF commissions
generally coff espond to the major missions of the Agencyin the fields of
culture, language industries, science and development methods and co-operation.
12. Quoted from the October 1978
edition of Revue des parlementaires de languefranqaise, No. 33, p. 67.
13. For further information, see
Revue des parlementaires de Langue française, No. 51-52,4th quarter 1983, 1st
quarter 1984, p. 234-256.
14. Parlements et Francophanie, No.
64, 1st quarter 1987, p. 21.