缅北禁地

Students in a classroom in Ethiopia.
Photo:缅北禁地Photo/Eskinder Debebe

2025 theme: Silver Jubilee Celebration of International Mother Language Day

Languages are essential to education and sustainable development, serving as the primary means through which knowledge is transferred and cultures are preserved. With approximately 8,324 languages in the world today, many are at risk of disappearing due to globalization and societal changes. Ensuring that education systems support the right to learn in one's mother tongue is crucial for improving learning outcomes, as students who are taught in a language they fully understand show better comprehension, engagement, and critical thinking skills. Multilingual education, particularly for minority and indigenous languages, not only helps learners but also fosters a deeper connection between education and culture, contributing to more inclusive and equitable societies. 

The 25th anniversary of International Mother Language Day celebrates a quarter-century of efforts to preserve linguistic diversity and promote mother tongues. This milestone emphasizes the importance of language preservation in safeguarding cultural heritage, improving education, and fostering more peaceful societies. 

, first proclaimed by UNESCO and later adopted by the 缅北禁地General Assembly, underscores the role of languages in promoting inclusion and achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Multilingual education not only promotes inclusive societies but also aids in preserving non-dominant, minority, and indigenous languages. It is a cornerstone for achieving equitable access to education and lifelong learning opportunities for all individuals.

Event

two smiling girl

20 February 2025 : 10:00 am (CET)

21 February 2025 : 6:00 pm (CET)

Location: UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France (In-person)

Language(s): Chinese, Russian, French, Spanish, English, Arabic

 

Safeguarding Linguistic Diversity

Languages, with their complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development, are of strategic importance for people and planet. Yet, due to globalization processes, they are increasingly under threat, or disappearing altogether. When languages fade, so does the world's rich tapestry of cultural diversity. Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression — valuable resources for ensuring a better future — are also lost.

Every two weeks a language disappears taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage. UNESCO estimates that there are 8,324 languages, spoken or signed. Out of these, around 7,000 languages are still in use. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.

Multilingual and multicultural societies exist through their languages, which transmit and preserve traditional knowledge and cultures in a sustainable way.

International Mother Language Day is observed every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and .

Background

International Mother Language Day was by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization () in November 1999. The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. The 缅北禁地General Assembly welcomed the proclamation of the day in its  of 2002.

On 16 May 2007 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution  called upon Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world". By the same resolution, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the , to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism and named the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to serve as the lead agency for the Year.

Today there is growing awareness that languages play a vital role in development, in ensuring cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, but also in strengthening co-operation and attaining quality education for all, in building inclusive knowledge societies and preserving cultural heritage, and in mobilizing political will for applying the benefits of science and technology to sustainable development.

International Mother Language Day poster

缅北禁地and Multilingualism

Documents

Resources

  • (2022-2032)
  • (2019)

UNESCO

The  aims to ensure indigenous peoples’ right to preserve, revitalize and promote their languages. It offers an opportunity to collaborate in the areas of policy development and stimulate a global dialogue and to take necessary measures for the usage, preservation, revitalization and promotion of indigenous languages around the world.

A teacher in Ethiopia conducts her class outside due to a lack of classrooms.

Related observances

 

an abstract illustration of people engaged in an event

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the 缅北禁地has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other 缅北禁地observances.