The “Francophonie Week” is the festival of the French language and cultures of the French-speaking countries, which is celebrated in the middle of March across the world. The organizers have prepared a program for the broad public to show the linguistic and cultural diversity of the French-speaking countries.

At the opening of the Francophonie week on March 13 the French movie “Margarita” will be screened at 17:30 pm at the “Rossiya” cinema. The Ambassadors of France, Switzerland and Belgium will solemnly open the Francophonie Week 2017.

The Swiss film “Bouboule” will be shown at the "Rossiya" cinema on March 15 at 18:00. The Belgian animation film “Skin color: honey” - in the big hall of the Academy of Tourism (address: 99 Chui Avenue/Alma-Atinskaya street), beginning at 17:30. All films are in French with Russian subtitles.

The Bishkek Francophonie program contains traditional events such as a culinary atelier, a competition of modern French songs, a theatre contest, an evening of French wines, the French game "Petanque" and many other events.

In addition, on March 17, at 18:00, the Swiss musician Jacky Lagger will hold a concert in French at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA).

All detailed information about events is presented in the program below.

PROGRAM

The project will be implemented by UNDP in Kyrgyzstan and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The total budget of the project for 10 years is 9,8 million Swiss francs.

According to Alexander Avanesov, UNDP Resident Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic, the project is long-term, was developed in close cooperation with all the stakeholders, and meets the needs of national partners. “To date, Kyrgyzstan is the only parliamentary democracy in the region and this strive of the country shall be supported. This is the main essence of the project being launched today”, - said A. Avanesov during the official project presentation on April 28, 2017 with participation of project partners.

It was also reported that project activities are designed and will be carried out in line with the 2021 Development Strategy of Jogorku Kenesh. According to this strategy, the parliament takes a lead in shaping the future strategic vision of the country on behalf of citizens, identifies its directions and generates new ideas and development concepts.

On May 1, the project has started implementation of its first 4 year phase with a total budget of 3,8 million Swiss francs. “In the first phase, we will closely collaborate and provide expert support to the activities of three parliamentary committees, namely the committee on constitutional legislation, state structure and judicial legal affairs, the committee on social affairs, education, science, culture and healthcare as well as the committee on finance and budget,”- stated Lucio V. Sarandrea, UNDP Chief Technical Adviser on Rule of Law.

In addition, the project will closely work on enhancing capacity of Public Councils and will run a special Civic Action Fund to support various civil society initiatives that promote inclusiveness of the parliament.

During the meeting, the head of the apparatus of the Parliament Samat Ibraev has expressed his gratitude for launching this timely project and readiness to work together.