Francophonie begins today

The 2016 edition of the annual Francophonie Festival begins today in Dhaka and Chittagong, amid festivity and enthusiasm. Every year, one month after Ekushey February, the Francophone community celebrates and promotes worldwide the use of the French language as well as cultural and linguistic diversity.

In the framework of the 2016 edition, the Francophone diplomatic missions in Bangladesh, together with Alliances Françaises, in Dhaka and Chittagong, are set to offer a rich programme of activities from March 11-20.

Alliance Française de Dhaka has set up a week-long programme of events such as “pétanque” competition, national finale of LabCitoyen (speech contest), cooking competition, Francophonie Short Film Festival 2016, visit to Liberation War Museum guided in French, translation competition and much more.

A talk on “Preservation and Promotion of Mother Language” will be organised at Dhaka University, Institute of Modern Languages at 10am on Wednesday, March 16, where Ambassadors of the Francophonie countries and eminent Bangladeshi personalities -- Professor Anisuzzaman (Professor Emeritus, Dhaka University) will be panelists. Professor Dr. AAMS Arefin Siddique (Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor) will be the chief guest, while special guest Dr Jinnat Imtiaz Ali (Director of International Mother Language Institute) will be the keynote speaker.