The French Language, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

future: 500 thesis students, 
150 post-doctoral students.
• expressing solidarity between universities: 
> 500 assignments, 70% of which were in the South, 
> 200 teacher-researchers in the South in refresher courses.
w mobilisation of institution networks:
• support for Regional Conferences of School Board Directors and/or
university rectors from the South and East. 
> Conference of Rectors from French-Speaking African and Indian Ocean
Universities (CRUFAOCI),
> Conference of Rectors from Southeast Asia (CONFRASIE),
> Conference of Rectors and University Rectors from the Caribbean
(CORPUCA),
> Conference of Rectors from Central and Eastern Europe (CONFRECO).
• Support for institutional networks (networks of schools and establishments
grouped by speciality area):
> 14 institutional networks, all standing members of AUF, in Agronomics,
Planning and Urban Development, Law, Instructor Training, Journalism,
Literature and Humanities, Medicine, Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine,
Pharmaceuticals, Management Sciences, Information and Communication
Sciences, Engineering Sciences, and Sciences and Technologies, for a total of
nearly 700 establishment heads in 60 countries.
Support for Information and Communication 
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3. Promoting excellence in the sciences for French-speaking universities and
researchers in the South.
There exist, in a number of Southern university institutions, places where
excellence has been achieved in the sciences, to an international standard. 
The AUF’s aims also include promoting that excellence so that it can be spread
and shared at both the regional and international levels.
w Support for regional excellence centres (PER):
The AUF’s support in this area is intended to improve universities with high
scientific value in the South, help them mobilise a regional skills network in
the sciences and share the resources available to them. 
University cooperation programmes in other regions, particularly in the
North, can also take part, and are invited to contribute to the high-level
scientific sharing underway and the influence it has on the region around it.
16 excellence centres were given support between 2003 and 2006, with most
(10) found in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean region. 
A new application period will be opened in 2006.
w Support for inter-university scientific projects (PCSI):
Every 2 years, based on an international call for applications, the AUF
supports research and/or educational projects with an impact on
development in the South. The projects are carried out by a network of at
least three universities from different countries, at least one of which must
come from the South. The programme encourages the participation of
young people and women.
75 projects, currently being funded, come from the last international call for
projects.
w Access to scientific awards for scientists from the South:
• The “French-Speaking World’s Awards for Young Researchers” are given out
every two years by the AUF’s Scientific Board, in 2 main fields:
> sciences and medicine,
Support for Information and Communication 
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> the humanities and social sciences.
• The AUF also gives out another distinction for career achievement by
Southern researchers: the “El Fasi” Award,
• Lastly, the AUF facilitates the participation of Southern researchers in
international scientific competitions. 
w support for scientific events (colloquia, etc.) :
Nearly 100 events supported each year, with:
• the participation of nearly 400 scientists from the South and East
contributing to the event (addresses in French, subsequently published in
the event proceedings), 
• proceedings published and circulated in French (preferably via electronic
means, CD-rom or Internet),
• the French language promoted in multi-lingual scientific events
(translation, interpretation, etc.).
4. Developing Partnerships 
Highly regarded for its operational presence on every continent and its
ability to mobilise its network of several hundred higher education and
research establishments across the world, the AUF is called upon on 
a regular basis to: 
• lead cooperation projects, 
• perform technical studies or assessments, 
• provide services relating to information and communications technologies,
• network development players from all horizons.
Its partners are those who make development a reality: governments, international
organisations, local governments (decentralised cooperation), enterprises and
trade communities.
Support for Information and Communication 
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Support for Information and Communication 
The partnerships give rise to such concrete outcomes as:
w cooperation contracts (delegated actions), for which organisations of all kinds
may call upon it:
• supporting reforms in higher education in Africa, in partnership with the
World Bank, 
• developing a university degree programme in IT at the University of
Georgia, in partnership with the Yonne General Council, 
• revamping education in the sciences in Cambodia, through a partnership
with the Rodolphe Mérieux Foundation, etc.
w experimentation with original cooperation methods designed and proposed by
training and research institutions to better respond to changes in development
today (innovative actions): 
• helping institutions from Northern Africa and the Middle East participate in
the European Union’s financing programmes (partners: the European Union
Commission), 
• supporting universities and researchers in the scientific and technological
Diaspora based in North America:
> building a regional educational network on the agro-food industry in the
Middle East, 
> mobilising “volunteers – senior citizens” to serve cooperation in the
sciences, etc.
w encounters between companies that invest in developing countries and the
human, academic and scientific resources of the South: 
• creating employment departments designed as a service to companies as
they hire and a means of supporting students entering the working world
(
TO CONTACT THE PROGRAMME: renforcement-universites@auf.org
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Environment and Solidarity-Based Sustainable Development 
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Environment and Solidarity-Based
Sustainable Development 
Sustainable solidarity-based development,
listed by the 10th Ouagadougou Summit as
a priority under the 10-Year Programme set
out by French-speaking nations, is ideally
framed in the AUF’s missions. Education,
research and capacity-building in science and
technology, particularly in favour of student
and instructor-researchers from Southern
countries, play a fundamental part in the
AUF’s multilateral cooperation strategy and
the actions of the “Environment and
Solidarity-Based Sustainable Development”
Programme.
The fields of activity covered by the programme are directly related to the 
major issues in today’s world: energy, water, climate, biodiversity, pollution,
socio-economic imbalances, food safety and others.
Tools Developed
Degree Programmes
The French-language university degree programmes designed in this area (55 in
2006) are offered at the graduate and post-graduate levels. They mobilise local
instructors and consortiums of French-speaking universities from the North
around scientific or vocational education programmes leading to degrees. The
best students may enter doctoral programmes in the universities belonging to
the consortia.
Sustainable development, defined as
“ development that meets the
needs of the present without
jeopardising the ability of future
generations to meet theirs ” is the
objective assigned to all of our
societies by the international
community. Development of that
kind is not viable unless conceived 
of in a spirit of solidarity and sharing
with the neediest populations.
Institutes
The 3 Institutes of the French-Speaking World:
• Administration and Management in Sofia:
• Entrepreneurship in Maurice:
• Tropical Diseases in Vientiane:
were designed to contribute to the development of countries in the regions
where they were established. They offer vocational or doctoral (Master’s)
education in innovative areas and come in response to specific regional needs.
Instruction is provided mainly by lecturers (professors and researchers) from
French-speaking countries on assignment, or experts from the region’s
professional and business community. 
Research Networks
In order to boost cooperation (North-South, East-West, South-South) between
the researchers, laboratories and research teams that use French as their working
language, the AUF has set up topical research networks. Run by an International
Scientific Committee, they provide support to multilateral research efforts 
(50 initiatives in 2006), organise regional conferences and Science Days 
(8 events in 2006) and contribute to developing scientific and technological
information tools in the French language (manuals, monographs, proceedings
from science days, Web sites, newsletters, databanks and directories).
Environment and Solidarity-Based Sustainable Development 
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The 9 research networks active within the programme are: 
w Research Network Economic Analysis and Development:
w Research Network Plant-Based Biotechnologies: Improving Plant and Food
Safety: 
w Research Network Demographics: 
w Research Network Entrepreneurship: 
w Research Network Environment and Sustainable Development:
w Research Network Erosion and Cautionary Management of Water and Soils:
w Research Network Process Engineering Applied to the Agro-Food Industry:
w Research Network Parasite and Vector-Borne Diseases: 
w Research Network Remote Sensing: 
TO CONTACT THE PROGRAMME: developpement-environnement@auf.org
Environment and Solidarity-Based Sustainable Development 
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Agence universitaire de la Francophonie