21 Facts About Abdou Diouf

Abdou Diouf was the second Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie from January 2003 to December 2014.

Abdou Diouf attended primary and secondary school at the Lycee Faidherbe in Saint-Louis.

Abdou Diouf studied law at Dakar University and then at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Abdou Diouf remained in the latter position until February 1970, when he was named Prime Minister.

Senghor trusted Abdou Diouf, who had administrative experience but no independent power base.

On 1 January 1981, Senghor resigned in favor of Abdou Diouf, who became president of Senegal.

Abdou Diouf continued the political liberalization Senghor had begun by holding elections in 1983.

Abdou Diouf allowed fourteen opposition parties to run instead of the four Senghor had allowed.

The practical effect was to fragment the opposition, and Abdou Diouf won with 83.5 percent of the vote.

Abdou Diouf won 72.3 percent of the vote to Wade's 25.8 percent, and opposing parties alleged electoral fraud.

Under Abdou Diouf, Senegal agreed to form a confederation called Senegambia with neighboring Gambia on 12 December 1981; this union took place on 1 February 1982.

In 1986, Abdou Diouf began an anti-AIDS program in Senegal before the virus was able to take off in earnest.

Abdou Diouf used the media and schools to promote safe-sex messages and required prostitutes to be registered.

Abdou Diouf encouraged civic organizations and both Christian and Muslim religious leaders to raise awareness about AIDS.

Abdou Diouf was Deputy Secretary-General of the Socialist Party under Senghor.

Abdou Diouf became Secretary-General in 1981, and when the party was restructured at its Thirteenth Congress in 1996, he was moved to the position of President of the PS, while Ousmane Tanor Dieng became First Secretary, having been proposed by Diouf.

Abdou Diouf has been active in international organizations both during and after his presidency.

Abdou Diouf was President of the Organization of African Unity from 1985 to 1986.

Abdou Diouf was reelected as Secretary-General for another four years at the organization's summit in Bucharest in September 2006.

Abdou Diouf is an Eminent Member of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation.

Abdou Diouf is a member of the Fondation Chirac's honour committee, ever since the foundation was launched in 2008 by former French president Jacques Chirac in order to promote world peace and on the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats International Advisory Board.