ADFE-Français du Monde

The Association démocratique des Français de l'étranger - Français du Monde (Association of French people overseas - French of the World), also known as "ADFE-FdM", "ADFE" and "Français du Monde", is a French political and cultural group with a world-wide presence. It was established in 1980 to support abroad the candidacy of François Mitterrand to the Presidency of the French Republic, and was quite active in obtaining in 1982 the right for French citizens living overseas to elect their own representatives to a consultative assembly, the "Conseil Superieur des Français de l'Etranger" (CSFE), the denomination of which was modified in 2004 in "Assemblée des Français de l'étranger" (AFE) . The AFE elects twelve senators to the French Senate. Proposals to allow French citizens overseas to elect members of the National Assembly of France have not been adopted as of 2006.

The ADFE is one of the three groupings in the AFE with 49 of the 155 elected members, and has chosen three of the twelve senators representing French people abroad. While the groups in the AFE are not affiliated directly with French political parties, the ADFE is definitely a left-wing grouping. Its senators sit with the Communist Party(one) and the Socialist Party (two).

The ADFE encourages and assists voter registration for presidential elections and referendums. In addition to its political role, the ADFE extends assistance to French citizens overseas in various fields, especially in those related to social help, education and to dealings with consular offices, such as changes of status, issue of documents, pensions, and similar matters.

External links

* [http://www.francais-du-monde.net Français du Monde]