And I found my .....

Due to my preoccupation with job and Indian Society of Soil Salinity and Water Quality, I thought of leaving this particular activity. Then I was reminded of my grandfather’s story of King Bruce and the spider and instantly I draw strength from the learning and tried to find someone who is serving for Africa’s interest. I followed the instructions and wrote to Bill Gates through Facebook. Since some of EVOKE friends were engaged in the hot discussion about Africa, I thought of choosing my role model from Africa. Then suddenly I was reminded of a post by Nancy Reyes in African News, “The dirty little secret is that although Bill Clinton felt Africa’s pain, it is Bush who is expanding US help for Africa (an area that is traditionally within European’s sphere of influence)” and got confused.

Then I remember Abdou Diouf, former President of the Republic of Senegal (1981 – 2000). He was elected as Secretary General of La Francophonie at the Beirut summit in October 2002 and then re-elected in 2006. He graduated from the Ecole nationale de la France d’Outre-mer (National School of Overseas France) in 1960. Abdou DIOUF led a career as a high-ranking civil servant, first as Minister for the Plan and for Industry (1968-1970), then as Prime Minister (1970-1980) and finally as President of the Republic of Senegal.

I remember his words: “Communication and exchange are vital to the practice of democracy, to mobilising people towards a common objective and to achieving consensus in order to act effectively. Today, these activities come in new shapes and forms and use new tools. It remains to be seen whether these innovations really do help us meet these ever-present objectives” (http://www.ideas4development.org/post/article/solidarity-safety-and...)

Like all high-ranking French administration officials, President Abdou DIOUF trained in law and planning. He was given both regional and national responsibilities in a country on the verge of independence. He occupied the positions of Minister of the Plan and then Prime Minister before becoming President and was deeply involved in promoting the development of his country. Under his rule as President, democracy and the rule of law were fully instated in Senegal and each component of political and civil society was given the capacity to express itself and contribute to the country’s development as long as the rules of democracy were respected. A liberal economy and decentralisation were promoted. Abdou DIOUF was re-elected in 1983, 1988 and 1993. He lost the elections in 2000 and withdrew from local politics to ensure a complete democratic transition. He has been President of La Francophonie since January 1st 2003 where he has led a major institutional reform (the merger of AIF/IOF), developed the role of La Francophonie with regard to democracy and human rights, and contributed to the adoption of the UNESCO Convention on cultural diversity.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) is an institution based on the sharing of the French language and of common cultural values. The IOF comprises fifty-five Member States and Governments and thirteen Observers, accounting for nearly one-third of the UNO Member States, and representing a population of over 800 million, including 200 million French speakers. The IOF helps its Member States elaborate their policies and conducts actions of multilateral cooperation in four areas: promoting the French language and cultural and linguistic diversity, promoting peace, democracy and human rights, support for education, training, higher education and research, and promotion of cooperation in sustainable development and solidarity. The Summits of La Francophonie take place every two years. The Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie is the consultative assembly of La Francophonie. The four direct and acknowledged operators of the Summit are: the Academic Agency of La Francophonie, TV5Monde, The Senghor University at Alexandria, and the International Association of Francophone Mayors.