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By Lisa Anderson
NEW YORK (TrustLaw)—The first World Francophone Women’s Forum will convene in Paris later this month to consider the state of women’s rights in the French-speaking world, according to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The forum will gather 400 delegates on March 20 for a day-long meeting at the Musée du Quai Branly and end with a closing address by French President François Hollande at the Elysée Palace.
“The aim of this forum is to lay the foundations for a new status for women in the Francophone space and to defend their rights wherever they are under threat,” said a statement by Yamina Benguigui, Minister Delegate for French Nationals Abroad and Francophony.
According to the foreign ministry, there are currently 120 million Francophone women globally, a number that is expected to increase to more than 350 million by 2050.
“The World Francophone Women’s Forum starts from the premise of a regression in women’s rights around the world, and in particular in the French-speaking world, which comprises 77 countries and 220 million French speakers,” said a statement issued by the ministry.
It noted that among Francophone nations there are “glaring disparities” in women’s rights from country to country.
“In the developed or emerging nations, women continue to fight for recognition of their rights in the fields of employment, equality or social gains. In other, poorer countries, women must struggle on a daily basis to have even their most fundamental rights recognized.”
The forum will include three roundtable meetings to discuss problems faced by women in Francophone countries and possible solutions. Their findings will be presented to the French president and to the Secretary General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), an intergovernmental organization of French-speaking nations.
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