Francophonie Week 2022 in Bishkek

Local news, 15.03.2022

The French Alliance in Bishkek, jointly with the Embassies of France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada and the EU Delegation in Kyrgyzstan, are happy to announce the holding of the 2022 edition of the Week of the Francophonie from March 23 to April 2. The festival includes educational, cultural and entertainment events in offline and online format.

Francophonie poster © French Alliance in Bishkek, 2022

 

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 and partners have prepared a program for the broad public, which consists of 16 offline events and activities and 3 online webinars. This year, the festival will centre around questions on how to protect our planet and the environment.

French is the fifth language spoken in the world, the third language for business, used by more than 300 million people on five continents, and also is known as the language of diplomacy. 88 countries are members of the International Organization of Francophonie, in 29 of which French is the official language.

The Francophonie Week will be launched in Bishkek on March 23 with a public screening of the movie "Legacy / Notre Héritage" by the famous French photograph and environmentalist Yann-Arthus Bertrand, followed by an exchange with the latter, starting at 18:00 in Ala-Too Cinema (free entrance).  

The detailed program is presented below.

Local news, 07.03.2022

On 7 March, a high level delegation from Switzerland will arrive in Bishkek to strengthen cooperation ties with the Kyrgyz Republic and familiarize with the results of the Swiss funded projects implemented in Kyrgyzstan. 

Flags of Switzerland and Kyrgyzstan © Swiss Embassy Bishkek, 2022

The Swiss Government will be represented by Ambassador Ms. Patricia Danzi, Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Ambassador Mr. Dominique Paravicini, Head of the Economic Cooperation and Development Division and Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The goal of this visit is to know more about the challenges Kyrgyzstan faces today.

The Swiss delegation will meet representatives of the Kyrgyz government to discuss development and economic cooperation issues as well as bilateral trade and investments. They will also meet representatives of the business sector, international organizations and civil society. 

Ms. Danzi and Mr. Paravicini will visit Swiss funded development projects in various areas of Chui oblast, in particular in the sectors of water, tourism, health and local governance, and learn from citizens who benefitted from these projects how the Swiss support helped to improve the quality of their life. Both ambassadors will also learn more about the Kyrgyz culture and visit the capital city.