French language classes for Nepal Police started from today, June 27. These classes, consisting of 130 hours, are funded by the French government. 30 police officers will benefit from this opportunity.

The classes were inaugurated by French Ambassador to Nepal, Yves Carmona in the presence of Deputy Inspector General Keshav Adhikari.

 “I am delighted to introduce this session of French classes for the Nepali police. It is the 3rd year in a row and the second cohort since the first one took place straddling two years, 2014 and 2015,” said French ambassador Carmona.

Funded by the French government, these French classes are provided by Alliance française de Katmandou to police officers who are going to participate in peace keeping operations of the United Nations.

“Nepal is worldwide famous and highly praised for being the 5th contributor in manpower to Peace Keeping Operation (PKO), including often in French speaking countries, which is the main reason why its government is keen to providing French language classes to its troops on the ground,” said ambassador Carmona.

This 10th June, French foreign minister Jean Marc Ayrault and UNSG Ban Ki Moon invited countries involved in PKO to a special meeting in NY. Nepal was represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense, Mr Rawal.

It was a great opportunity for Nepal to have its point of view expressed in such a high level meeting and it raised the profile of your country.

“By learning French, you are entering a world which represents more than the use of a language. You are entering a world where you can get access to a rich and broad culture beloved by so many people. I am sure that you all know novels such as Notre Dame de Paris, Les Misérables written by Victor Hugo. You all know famous singers such as Edith Piaf or Jacques Brel. You also know the humanist values promoted worldwide by France which are liberty, equality and fraternity,” said ambassador.

“Learning French, It is also getting access to the biggest linguistic zone in the world through the International Organization of La Francophonie created in 1970 and which covers 80 member states and governments. Together it represents over one-third of the United Nations’ member states and account for a population of over 890 million people, including 220 million French speakers.”

\