KARACHI: 21 February is the International Mother Language Day, which is being observed by the UNESCO and its 193 member countries across the globe every year since 2000. Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Karachi also organised a programme last week on the significance of the day at its Chancery.
The United Nations specialised organisation, the UNESCO observe the day every year in a befitting manner. International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 17 November 1999.
The member states of the UNESCO have been observing the 21 February as the “International Mother Language Day” since 2000. The UN General Assembly welcomed the proclamation of the day in its resolution of 2002. On 16 May 2007, the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/266 called upon member states “to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world.”
The UNESCO observed the International Mother Language Day-2023 with the theme “Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education.” In a message of the Director-General of UNESCO Madam Audrey Azoulay said that mother-tongue-based education is essential to the full development of individuals and to the transmission of linguistic heritage.
She further mentioned that 40% of the world’s students do not have access to education in the language they speak or understand best. She expressed here concern as saying “such as situation severely undermines learning, cultural expression and the building of social relations, and significantly weakens the linguistic heritage of humanity.” She emphasised that the aims of the International Mother Language Day are to celebrate the ways of expressing the world in its multiplicity, committing to the preservation of the diversity of languages as a common heritage, and working for quality education – in mother tongues – for all.
Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Karachi H.E. S M Mahbubul Alam delivered his speech on the significance of the day.
He mentioned that there are about 7,000 languages in the world. But alarmingly a language disappears and dies in every two weeks. The language extinct forever with an entire cultural and intellectual heritage! He further mentioned that at least 43% of the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023