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Other Policy Sectors
Information Highway
La Francophonie has three main instruments for promoting the information highway:
- The Francophone Institute for New Information and Training Technologies (INTIF-Institut francophone des nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la formation)(only available in French) is a subsidiary of the Intergovernmental Agency of La Francophonie (AIF). It acts as a catalyst to focus the Francophonie positions during international discussions on the information highway.
- The Francophone Information Highway Fund (FFI-Fonds francophone des inforoutes)(only available in French) was established in 1998 and is coordinated by the Intergovernmental Agency of La Francophonie. Action taken with the help of the Fund has targeted various needs, which include ensuring more democratic access to the information highway, developing education, training and research components, and strengthening the creation and distribution of French-language content.
- The Information Highway Access Points for Youth Program (PAJE-Points
d'accès aux inforoutes pour la jeunesse) (only available
in French), was also set up by the AIF. The main objective of this program
is to enhance access to the information highway by developing portals that
enable people from southern countries to access the Internet to obtain information,
communicate with other young people and participate in joint projects.
The International Francophonie Directorate (IFD) at the Department of Canadian Heritage coordinates departmental action in the area of French-language content on the information highway. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Industry Canada are also involved in developing French-language content on the information highway.
Following the Francophonie Summit in Moncton in 1999 (Declaration) -only available in French-, Canada launched a major information highway initiative: Franconet Canada (only available in French). The aim of the project, which reaches fifteen States of La Francophonie, is to contribute to sustainable development by enabling organizations working in economic fields to have access to the Internet in order to enhance their outreach, both nationally and abroad.
Promotion of the arts
The performing arts (theatre, music and dance) and visual arts (painting, sculpture, infrastucture, photography) are among the most visible expressions of our nation's culture. Having chosen to make performing arts and visual arts one of its priority fields of intervention, the l'Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie (AIF) supports the following disciplines : theatre, dance, music and visual arts in contemporary expression. L'AIF has two main programs. The Movement of Artists and Artwork Assistance Programme is aimed at increasing the broadcast of performances and artworks created in the countries of La Francophonie through helping in the organisation of tours and in ensuring their inclusion in the schedule of festivals and entertainment shows in the North, as well as in the South. The Market and Large Performance Assistance Programme provides assistance to large performances and markets that include Southern artists and supports the presence of artists or of Southern phonographic enterprises in the large-scale professional meetings in this field.
Audiovisual
The audiovisual sector is one of the key sectors for the expression of cultural diversity. Supporting of promotion and production of southern hemisphere audiovisual creations, marketing and audiovisual products exploitation are objectives orienting the efforts of the Intergovernmental Agency of La Francophonie (AIF) in the audiovisual field. In order to support audiovisual creation, the AIF has established the Francophone Fund for Audiovisual Production in the South (Fonds francophone de production audiovisuelle du Sud). This fund, created in 1988, is the joint responsibility of the AIF and the International Council of French-Speaking Radio and Television (CIRTEF-Conseil international des radios-télévision
d'expression française) (only available in French). Its aim is to support the production and dissemination of film and television, and feature reports and documentaries produced by professionals from the South. During 14 years of operation, more than 1 000 audiovisual products have been created through partial funding. Productions funded through the Fund must be produced or co-produced by creators from Francophone countries from South. Financial support allocated to promote audiovisual creations from the South also comes, in part, from the Francophone Scholarship for the International Promotion of Southern Films (Bourse francophone de promotion internationale du film du Sud). This scholarship is given exclusively to fund operations targeting film promotion, such as promotional tools, and encouragement to attend festivals helping artists to penetrate professional markets.
Cultural heritage
The third Ministerial Conference on Culture, held in Cotonou, June 2001, reiterated the importance of supporting the collection, preservation and promotion of the heritage of countries in the southern hemisphere, in order to ensure the widest promotion and sharing of national cultures. The Intergovernmental Agency of La Francophonie (AIF) is concerned with preserving the intangible heritage of the countries of the southern espacially in the field of languages according to the action plan of Cotonou, AIF brings a support to the countries of the south in the application of their linguistic policies as well as to the development of associated national languages.
The Senghor University of Alexandria (Université Senghor d'Alexandrie) (only available in French) has set up a university program in cultural heritage management. The purpose of this program is to train heritage professionals in Africa. The approach adopted is one involving professional cooperation between experts from the North and South, thus making it possible to consolidate or create new relationships within a Francophone network for information on African heritage.
Preserving Canada's cultural heritage is a priority for the Department of Canadian Heritage. The development of a variety of programs makes it possible to ensure that expressions of Canadian heritage, whether tangible or intangible, are preserved, and to expand their potential to reach out to the world. As regards the conservation of tangible heritage, the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) contributes internationally, through its expertise, to the creation of a network of African experts who assume the responsibility for conserving collections and training their colleagues. This approach provides museums in sub-Saharan Africa with the tools they need to develop in a sustainable way.
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