Secretary-General, at Reception Hosted by La Francophonie, Hails Organization’s

 

Strong, ‘Wide Spectrum’ Partnership with United Nations

Following are United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the reception held by La Francophonie in New York today, 24 September:

It is a great pleasure to be with you tonight.  I thank you, Minister [Bernard] Kouchner and your team, for your customary hospitality.

The United Nations system and the International Organization of la Francophonie are good, close partners.  We have worked together to advance peace, security and development in many parts of the world, but especially in Africa.

We continue to strengthen our cooperation in the crucial areas of peacekeeping, conflict prevention and electoral assistance.  We are on the ground together in Haiti, in the Central African Republic, in Guinea, Niger, Madagascar, Mauritania and the Comoros.

And I very much look forward to our increased cooperation on human rights, following the recent agreement between Secretary-GeneralAbdou Diouf and [United Nations] High Commissioner [for Human Rights] Navi Pillay.

This is a wide spectrum of activity, and testimony to our strong partnership.

As you know, I am a strong supporter of multilingualism at the United Nations, including efforts to promote the French language.  After all, one of every 31 people on earth is a French speaker —- 200 million altogether —- 200 million plus one, if you count me, and I hope you will.

But I have a confession to make.  This is the third time that I have attended a Francophone event, and I am still unsure about the correct definition of “Francophonie”.  My friends tell me that this term signifies much more than the International Organization of la Francophonie.

They say it is a vision du monde, as well as an art de vivre.  But when I ask my friends what art de vivre means, they say you have to live it to understand it.  I suspect my friends are telling me I need to get out more.

One good friend told me it has to do with good food and joie de vivre.  But given my long working hours, I have not really had much chance to enjoy this.  Perhaps we need an International Day for Joie de Vivre?

Another friend quoted the late President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor, who used to talk about Francophonie as a forum for the rendez-vous du donner et du recevoir (“give-and-take forum”).

Minister Kouchner, I hope you and other distinguished Francophone officials will enlighten me.  I also hope that tonight somebody will explain to me the subtleties of certain idiosyncrasies of the French language.

I still find it difficult to understand and write the following sentences, which, I believe, are supposed to teach me the different meanings of the word “foi”:

“Il était une fois, un marchand de foie, qui vendait du foie dans la ville de Foix.

“Une fois, il s’est dit: ‘Ma foi, ce n’est pas la première fois mais la dernière fois que je vends du foie dans la ville de Foix!’”

[“Once upon a time, a liver seller was selling liver in Foix city.  One day, he told himself:  ‘Well, this is not the first time but the last time that I will sell liver in Foix city!’”]

That is a very helpful exercise –- but I have also come up with one that is more relevant to the United Nations.

“On me dit que je devrais utiliser plus souvent le mot paix…

“Mais lorsque je dis que la paix n'a pas de prix, on pense que je ne lui attribue aucune valeur.

“Alors, j'ajoute que dans les pays epris de paix, la paix n'a pas de prix et ne se paye que par la paix.”

[“I have been told that I should use the word “peace” more often.  But when I say that peace is priceless, people think I mean that it is worthless.  So I then add that in peace-loving countries, peace is priceless, and you can only find peace in peace itself.”]

Easy, right?  I thought so.

But despite the many traps and challenges in learning French, it is true that “quand on aime, on ne compte pas”.  [“When you love someone or something, you don’t keep score.”] And that is probably one of the attractions of any great language.  It is a continual test of commitment, patience and discovery, which you would not have experienced if you had not tapped into your own sense of curiosity.

During my last eventwith you, I promised to master the imperfect subjunctive.  I hope I have succeeded.  Let me see:  “Had I not made this promise, I would not have had to spend many sleepless nights studying.”  How’s that?

My effort to become fully proficient in French is at an early stage.  As you can hear, I still have some way to go.  But you can be sure of my full and unequivocal commitment to French and Francophone values.

Thank you for this wonderful reception.  And thank you for your support for our joint mission.

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For information media • not an official record