Despite the continuous efforts of the OIF for Human Rights since its creation, today it faces different human crises. It has been cooperating since 1997 with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) with the aim of strengthening reciprocal information efforts and enabling the implementation of joint projects for human rights, democracy and peace.
After two years of delay due to the Coide-19 pandemic, the 18th OIF summit this month celebrated the 50th anniversary of an organization of 88 members. Although the OIF is committed to the promotion of rights and freedoms through its cooperation with the UN, during this summit which was held in Djerba in Tunisia, several of its countries, particularly in Africa, are experiencing political, economic and security difficulties; Crises whose consequences for human rights cannot be underestimated.
In addition to the crisis of multilateralism exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, the OIF has experienced other major problems since her election. Lebanon is still in the midst of economic sinking, Chad lost its head of state, killed in action the same year, Haiti saw its president assassinated in his home in 2021, and Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso are now ruled by soldiers who came to power after a coup; We must also highlight the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the largest francophone country in the world, which once again accuses Rwanda of militarily supporting the rebels of the Movement du 23-Mars (M23) in the east from the country.
Despite the continuous efforts of the OIF for Human Rights since its creation, today it faces different human crises. It has been cooperating since 1997 with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) with the aim of strengthening reciprocal information efforts and enabling the implementation of joint projects for human rights, democracy and peace. The Organization also pursues other missions in favor of human rights in the francophone world:
– It accompanies its Member States, at their request, in the process of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) – the United Nations human rights monitoring mechanism.
– It encourages its States to set up independent National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) endowed with sufficient resources.
– It carries out support work for international and national human rights organizations to protect human rights defenders (HRDs) who carry out civic work sometimes at the risk of their lives.
– It supports civil society to prevent and fight against torture and ill-treatment. With the Francophone Fund for Human Rights « Martine ANSTETT » (FFDH), it supports micro-projects by Francophone civil society organizations.
– It supports the abolition of the death penalty in the French-speaking world by promoting abolition for all crimes in national legislation.
– It supports the establishment of national prevention mechanisms (NPMs) against torture in countries in the French-speaking world.
– The OIF strongly fights against violence against children and also tries to promise the implementation and respect of human rights in the business environment.