The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading to France today to attend the Francophonie Summit, where the conflicts in the Middle East are likely to cast a shadow over this meeting of French-speaking countries, whether wholly or partially.

The Francophonie Summit is held every two years, and this time France is hosting it tomorrow and the day after in its capital, Paris, and in the town of Ville-Coutrie, located about 80 kilometers northeast of Paris.

France takes over the presidency of the Francophonie from Tunisia and has stated that the theme of this year's summit is "Creativity, Innovation, and Doing Business in French."

Leaders are expected to discuss ways to promote the French language, address geopolitical challenges, ensure that the digital space reflects their linguistic and cultural diversity, and increase economic relations between countries.

A senior federal official stated that Canada will focus on strengthening relationships with French-speaking African countries.

The federal government plans to announce funding for scientific research as well as for French-language content and platforms.

However, ongoing crises in two member states of the organization, Lebanon and Haiti, are also expected to weigh heavily on the leaders attending the summit.

Canada is trying to organize a discussion with representatives from Lebanon at the summit.

Yesterday, the Canadian Prime Minister stated that the international community must do everything it can to avoid a wider regional war in the Middle East.

However, recent developments have led many to fear that this is currently happening.

The exchange of fire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah organization, which began a year ago, escalated into broader violence last week as Israel expanded its missile campaign targeting the Iran-backed group, killing its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and a senior Iranian military official in an airstrike on Beirut's southern suburb on Friday, and carried out a ground military incursion across the border with Lebanon this week.

Two days ago, Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. For its part, Israel promised to retaliate.

In a statement issued on September 27, the Secretary-General of the International Organization of Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo, expressed the solidarity of the French-speaking family with the Lebanese people and called on all parties to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Regarding Haiti, a new report released on September 30 indicates that nearly half of the country's population, which exceeds 11 million, is suffering from severe levels of hunger, as violence perpetrated by criminal organizations suffocates life in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and beyond.

Last week, at the United Nations General Assembly, Trudeau urged world leaders to come together to formulate a serious and immediate plan to meet the humanitarian needs of Haitians.

Alongside the federal government, four Canadian provincial governments will participate in the Francophonie Summit: Quebec, the only one among the country's ten provinces with a majority French-speaking population, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

Leaders of the Francophone countries are expected to make a decision regarding requests for membership in the International Organization of Francophonie, including a request from Nova Scotia in Eastern Canada for observer status.

This will be the fourth time Trudeau has attended the Francophonie Summit since he took office in Ottawa in the fall of 2015.