Photographers: Amelie Vidal and Philippe Laupa.   By Nicole Pierre.   On the occasion of Francophone Month which is celebrated every year in March, the Embassies of Belgium (Délégation Wallonie Bruxelles), Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco, Romania, Senegal, Switzerland and Tunisia gathered, in the presence of more than 300 attendees, at the Grote Kerk Den Haag on Wednesday March 11for a panel discussion about the importance of the Francophonie in the economic and commercial development between countries, and more specifically, between Europe and Africa. For a photo-album of the event, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157650976417109/ The conference was organized by the Francophone embassies in The Hague, as well as the Institut Français and Alliance française de La Haye and was followed by a “Francophone buffet and cocktail” which was offered thanks to the collaboration with the CCI – Franco Dutch Chamber of Commerce and TV5 Monde, the international Francophone channel. The guest speakers for the event, included a representative of the OIF office in Paris, Mr Hervé Cronel, Dutch business managers, Michael Hailu (Ethopia) and Youssouf Camara – Director and Program Coordinator of the Dutch based CTA Company respectively, Mylena Pierremont, founder of Amsterdam’s Ming Pai Marketing Agency, Fanny Marie Brisdet a Franco-Dutch lawyer and Jean-Pierre Perroud, an intercultural consultant. The debate was moderated by Ariejan Korteweg, a political journalist at the Volkskrant and former journalist in Paris.   Quite impressively, the panelists, and especially the attendees, highlighted the positive aspects and benefits of using the French language for business purposes, in Africa, but also in Japan and Latin America, reinforcing the fact that French is spoken on all 5 continents and that the Francophonie movement promotes the positive aspects of a plurilinguistic and multicultural world. In fact, according to Mr. Cronel “Francophonie means the disconnection of the French language from France, as the French language does not belong to France alone”          

By Roy Lie A Tjam.   On Tuesday March 11 2015, His Excellency Dr. Tony Aidoo, Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana, hosted a reception to bid farewell to Judge Akua Kuenyehia. A former first Vice-President and Judge of the International Criminal Court, Ambassador Aidoo called Judge Akua Kuenyehia an illustrious daughter of Ghana. Kuenyehia holds the highest distinction of the Republic of Ghana.  

Kuenyehia was educated at the University of Ghana and Oxford University. She has spent most of her professional career lecturing at the University of Ghana, as Dean of Law, and as a visiting professor at other institutions including Leiden University and Temple University. She is the President of Mount crest University College, Ghana. Professor Akua Kuenyehia, was also Dean of the faculty of Law of the renowned Legon University in Ghana.  

Judge Akua Kuenyehia is a foundation member of the ICC. Together with former President Sang-Hyun Song and others they set up the court in 2003. For full photo-album, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157650892313850/        

On the picture Mr. Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sports and Baku 2015 Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Mehriban Aliyeva, First Lady of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chair of the Baku 2015 European Games Organising Committee, and Mr. Patrick Hickey, President of the European Olympic Committees opening the final EOC Coordination Commission visit to Baku.  ©BEGOC   The first edition of the European Games will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, between June 12-28 2015. This large-scale event will welcome 6,000 athletes from 50 National Olympic Committees of Europe, competing in 20 sports. According to senior figures at the leading National Olympic Committees (NOC’s) of Europe, the Baku 2015 European Games is expected to be the biggest multi-sport event on the European calendar this year and the ideal proving ground for athletes ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The Games will take place in 21 stadiums and facilities in Baku and the city of Mingachevir. The official opening ceremony of the games will take place in the 68,000-seat Baku Olympic Stadium. The Athletes Village will accommodate up to 7,300 people. In the beginning of the February this year, Baku has for the 5^th time, received EOC Coordination Commission, charged with overseeing progress towards the inaugural European Games. According to Patrick Hickey, President of the EOC, the European Olympic Committee has expressed satisfaction with all the facilities designed in Baku for the first European Games. He said: “This EOC visit to Baku ahead of the first European Games has confirmed that the city is fully prepared to host an unforgettable event. To have achieved so much in two years is a testament to Azerbaijan’s dedication to hosting the Games, and Europe’s athletes and sport fans will be delighted with the high standard of venues and facilities which await them. Baku 2015 will be the perfect launch-pad for the European Games.”  

Hickey thanked Azerbaijan and Baku 2015 First European Games Organizing Committee for the welcome and reception ceremonies in Baku. He expressed his gratitude to Mehriban Aliyeva, Azerbaijan’s First Lady and Chairperson of BEGOC for the great attention and interest in the work, as well as for her enormous contribution to the design of the uniforms of the volunteers, and to the President Ilham Aliyev, who is also the president of the Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan, for showing great interest in the Games. On February 19, 2015 Baku 2015 European Games also hosted a second briefing for heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Azerbaijan. The event was attended by more than 80 delegates from all 68 diplomatic missions in Azerbaijan, plus a number of non-resident representatives, at the Baku 2015 European Games Operations Committee headquarters. This second diplomatic briefing allowed Baku 2015 staff to update the diplomatic community on the progress towards the upcoming multi-sport event. The games are also of a great interest to Dutch delegation, who expects a successful participation for the Dutch athletes.  According to the Dutch Chef of Mission Jeroen Bijl, he expects a high level participation and NOC * NSF is enthusiastic about the upcoming event and the Netherlands even examines the possibility to host the next European Games in 2019. He believes that the countries participating at the Baku 2015 European Games will take the competition very seriously – just like the Netherlands are. According to the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Netherlands Mr. Mir-Hamza Efendiyev, in recent years Azerbaijan has become a platform for many important international events such as the International Humanitarian and Cultural forums, world championships and other various global events. The Games are being given full governmental support. “I am confident the 1^st European Games in Baku will set up a high bar for the upcoming editions of this prestigious sporting event”- he said.