Natahlie Roy, Minister of Culture and Communications of Québec, and Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs;
Credit: MAEE
Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, yesterday participated in the 36th session of the Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie; OIF) in Monaco.
The meeting was under the theme "Reconciling humanity and the planet: perspectives in the Francophone space on the eve of 50 years of the OIF".
In his speech, Minister Asselborn insisted that this reconciliation must be achieved at three levels: reconciliation between humanity and the planet; reconciliation between states and within states; reconciliation within society.
Firstly, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister emphasised the importance of the fight against climate change in the reconciliation between humanity and the planet. In this context, he reiterated the need for multilateral action as well as multilateral diplomacy, insisting that: "We must keep the commitments of the Paris Agreement and go beyond it and not the opposite; to be 'great' cannot mean breaking multilateralism for dangerous selfishness".
Minister Asselborn then touched on the reconciliation between states and within states, emphasising his concern about the continued violence in Africa's Sahel region.
Finally, Jean Asselborn stressed the importance of reconciliation within our societies, not least because the current situation has shown that "the social contract between the state and citizens is put to the test".
On the occasion of this meeting, the Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie adopted four resolutions: one on the oceans, another on the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a third on the 50th anniversary of the OIF and finally one on the role of innovation in the promotion of science, education and the digital economy.
Jean Asselborn took advantage of the conference to have several bilateral talks on the margins of the meeting. In particular, he had exchanges with Nathalie Roy, Minister of Culture and Communications of Quebec, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Djibouti, and Mohamed El Amine Souef, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Comoros.
