Tunis — "Tunisia, one of the founding countries of the Francophonie, will continue to work with its Francophone partners to give this community continued dynamism and to move towards a more solidarity-based, effective and renewable Francophonie," so that it can respond to the aspirations and expectations of its peoples, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad said in a statement on Wednesday on the occasion of the International Day of the Francophonie.

On this day, which coincides with the celebration of Independence Day, the ministry stressed Tunisia's willingness to prioritise the values of dialogue, equality, mutual respect, diversity, solidarity and peace as a fundamental pillar of all joint Francophone action.

Tunisia reiterated its call for declarations to be accompanied by concrete actions to mobilise the commitment of the International Organisation of La Francophonie in the name of the human values and justice it embodies. The aim is to put an end to the brutal aggression and genocide perpetrated by the occupying forces and their allies against the Palestinian people in all its territories and to end the barbaric occupation under which they have been living for more than 75 years, according to the same source.

Tunisia observes the International Day of the Francophonie every year on March 20, to commemorate the signing on March 20, 1970 in Niamey (capital of Niger) of the agreement establishing the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation, which later became the International Organisation of the Francophonie.

Tunisia hosted the 18th Summit of the Francophonie on November 19 and 20 on the island of Djerba, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the International Organisation of the Francophonie.

Tunisia was one of the founding countries of the organisation in 1970, along with Senegal, Nigeria and Cambodia.