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UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay spoke of the Francophonie as “more than a linguistic community, but also community of shared values.” The Director-General was in Yerevan, Armenia where she represented the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, at the 17th Summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) on 11 October to 12 October 2018.
Some 40 heads of State and Government and 84 delegations attended the Summit. It also included a rememberance late Armenian Ambassador to UNESCO and to the United Nations organizations in Geneva, internationally renowned singer Charles Aznavour.
Ms Azoulay paid a last tribute to Aznavour as an “ardent defender of the humanist values the United Nations promotes and a great friend of UNESCO”
The Director-General’s attendance at the Summit reaffirms the close cooperation between the UN and IOF, following a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 24 May last year.
UNESCO and the IOF share a priority commitment to gender equality and la Francophonie, recently adopted a strategy for the promotion of equality between women and men, girls’ rights and empowerment. The UN and IOF signed a framework cooperation agreement to combat the fight against sexual violence in armed conflicts.
Contact : Aurélie Motta-Rivey, +33 (0) 1 45 68 21 50.