| Mission statement: |
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| Organizational structure: |
The governing bodies of the AUF are as follows: General Assembly, Board of Directors and its Executive Committee, Presidency and Rectorate.
The General Assembly (GA), the supreme body of the AUF, brings together all AUF member institutions to define the organization’s general policy and main strategic directions. It is also responsible for approving the activity report for the previous period, electing the President of the AUF, and renewing the composition of its Board of Directors (BoD). Full members have a deliberative vote, while associate members have a consultative vote.
The Board of Directors (BoD) is composed of the President, 18 university representatives elected by full members at the General Assembly, the representative of the Secretary-General of La Francophonie, eleven representatives of States and Governments designated by the Permanent Council of La Francophonie, and one representative designated by a State or Government participating in Scientific Francophonie through AUF member institutions and having expressed interest in serving on the Board. The Board of Directors is responsible, in particular, for: adopting the AUF’s four-year general policy and main orientations proposed by the Rectorate; deciding on membership applications and issues related to members’ contributions; establishing its operational structures (such as the Executive Committee); electing the Rector; appointing members of the senior management and regional directors; preparing the agenda for General Assembly meetings and presenting a report on its activities to the Assembly; approving or amending the AUF’s annual work program and budget for the following year; annually approving an activity report and financial statement; approving the AUF’s general administrative regulations and financial regulations; deciding on the opening of regional offices; making all decisions related to the acquisition and disposal of the AUF’s real estate assets; setting the staff remuneration policy.
The President is elected by universal suffrage of full members, by an absolute majority of the votes cast at the General Assembly. The President does not have executive powers. He/she convenes and presides over the General Assembly, the Board of Directors, and its operational bodies.
The Rector is elected by the Board of Directors according to a procedure approved by the Board. The Rector is responsible for the executive management of the AUF. He/she is supported by an executive team (a general management and all central, regional, and institute directors of the AUF). He/she is the principal authorizing officer for revenues and expenditures; each year, he/she presents a draft budget to the Board of Directors and submits the previous year’s accounts and an annual activity report for approval. Moreover, he/she undertakes all necessary steps for fundraising and reports on this to the Board. He/she recruits, directs, and manages the AUF’s staff, and implements all orientations and programs of the AUF. He/she proposes the agendas for the AUF’s governing bodies.
The Executive Committee is composed of the general management (Secretary-General, Vice-Rectors, and Chief of Staff) and the central, regional, and specialized directors. There are 10 AUF regions, and each AUF region has a director. The central directorates are thematic and cross-cutting. Most of them fall under the Secretary-General (finance, digital affairs, human resources, legal affairs), who also oversees other services such as management control, internal audit, and logistics. There is also a Projects Directorate and a Networks Directorate under the responsibility of the Vice-Rectors. |
| Number and type of members: |
The Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie brings together two main categories of members, all from higher education and research institutions, primarily within the French-speaking world: full members and associate members. These members fall into nine sub-categories: universities, research centers, grandes écoles (elite higher education institutions), higher education institutions, professional higher education institutions, components of a higher education institution, integrated laboratories, university networks and scholarly associations. The total number of members is 1,081, distributed across different continents.
In the Americas, there are 114 members, distributed as follows: Argentina has 4 members, Bolivia 3, Brazil 18, Canada 31, Chile 5, Colombia 7, Costa Rica 2, the United States 1, Mexico 4, Peru 2, the Dominican Republic 3, Haiti 27, Jamaica 1, Cuba 5, and Uruguay 1 member.
In Africa, the total is 466 members. South Africa has 2 members, Angola 1, Comoros 2, Djibouti 2, Ethiopia 1, Somalia 1, Sudan 5, Kenya 2, Madagascar 25, Mauritius 8, Mozambique 1, Seychelles 1, Burundi 14, Cameroon 30, Central African Republic 2, Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) 8, Gabon 16, Equatorial Guinea 1, Uganda 1, Rwanda 1, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) 44, Chad 11, Algeria 68, Egypt 24, Libya 1, Morocco 28, Mauritania 5, Tunisia 25, Burkina Faso 20, Benin 5, Cape Verde 1, Ivory Coast 30, Gambia 1, Ghana 3, Guinea 14, Guinea-Bissau 1, Mali 16, Niger 9, Senegal 27, and Togo 9 members.
In Oceania, there are 2 members: 1 in Vanuatu and 1 in Fiji.
In Asia, there are 187 members. Afghanistan has 1 member, Saudi Arabia 1, Armenia 7, Azerbaijan 2, Cambodia 15, China 9, Cyprus 2, South Korea (Republic of Korea) 2, United Arab Emirates 3, Russia 4, Georgia 10, India 3, Indonesia 1, Iraq 9, Jordan 6, Kazakhstan 2, Kyrgyzstan 1, Laos (Lao People’s Democratic Republic) 6, Lebanon 26, Malaysia 1, Mongolia 1, Myanmar 1, Pakistan 1, Palestine 4, Qatar 2, Syria (Syrian Arab Republic) 4, Iran (Islamic Republic of) 11, Thailand 5, Turkey (Türkiye) 5, Vietnam 40, and Yemen 2 members.
In Europe, there are 312 members. Albania has 8 members, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2, Bulgaria 10, Croatia 2, Hungary 3, Kosovo 2, Latvia 1, Lithuania 2, North Macedonia 2, Moldova 7, Montenegro 1, Poland 5, Romania 48, Serbia 5, Slovakia 1, Slovenia 1, Ukraine 12, Germany 3, Andorra 1, Belgium 12, Spain 5, France (including overseas territories) 157, Greece 2, Italy 5, Luxembourg 1, Portugal 4, and Switzerland 10 members. |
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