YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Preparations for the upcoming XVII La Francophonie summit continue in Yerevan.

A rehearsal for the official welcoming ceremony of delegations took place today at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex in Yerevan, the venue which will host the summit.

Police and security agents, military guard of honor, drivers of official vehicles and foreign ministry staff took part in the rehearsals.

First Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, Foreign ministry secretary general Vahagn Melikyan and acting Mayor of Yerevan Kamo Areyan were also participating.

All official delegations will be accompanied by police escorts and streets will be closed for traffic, Melikyan said.

Guards of Honor will be in formation upon arrival of the delegations to the summit venue, he said.

The delegations will be welcomed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his spouse Anna Hakobyan, together with La Francophonie Secretary General Michaelle Jean and her spouse, inside the building.

After a group photo, the delegations will enter the main hall for the inauguration of the summit.

“I would like to sincerely praise and thank our team. We are now holding the final rehearsals,” First Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan said, adding that very high level events are expected. Avinyan is in charge of the inter-agency commission dealing with the organizational matters of the summit.

Avinyan assured that Armenia is ready to host the summit on the highest level.

“Armenia is always ready for this kind of events. And I believe that in terms of organizational issues the team is very well prepared, and I would like to once again thank our team for carrying out everything truly professionally and on the highest level,” he said.

Yerevan is hosting the XVII International Organisation of La Francophonie summit in 2018.  

The events are planned from October 7 to October 12, with the summit itself scheduled for the final two days.

Armenia is a member of the organization since 2008.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie represents one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world. Its members share more than just a common language. They also share the humanist values promoted by the French language. The French language and its humanist values represent the two cornerstones on which the International Organisation of La Francophonie is based.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie was created in 1970. Its mission is to embody the active solidarity between its 84 member states and governments (58 members and 26 observers), which together represent over one-third of the United Nations’ member states and account for a population of over 900 million people, including 274 million French speakers.

IOF organizes political activities and actions of multilateral cooperation that benefit French-speaking populations. Its actions respect cultural and linguistic diversity and serve to promote the French language, peace and sustainable development.

IOF has concluded 33 cooperation agreements with international and regional organisations and has established permanent dialogue between the major international linguistic zones (the English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Arab-speaking zones).

The IOF has its head office in Paris as well as four permanent representations in Addis Ababa (at the African Union and at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa), in Brussels (at the European Union), in New York and in Geneva (at the UN). It has three regional offices (West Africa ; Central Africa and Indian Ocean ; Asia-Pacific) located respectively in Lomé (Togo), Libreville (Gabon) and Hanoi (Vietnam) and two regional antennas in Bucharest (Romania) and in Port-au-Prince (Haiti).

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan