Approved by the UNESCO General Conference in 1999, International Mother Language Day has been celebrated every year by people worldwide since 2000.
UNESCO views linguistic and cultural variety as critical to the sustainability of society. As part of its obligation to uphold peace, it works to preserve a variety of languages and cultures that encourage tolerance and respect for other people.
In multilingual and multicultural societies, languages are essential for the transmission of traditional knowledge and the long-term preservation of cultural traditions.
The loss of languages is creating more challenges for linguistic variety.
About 40% of people on the planet require access to education in a language they can comprehend or use for communication.
The theme of International Mother Language Day celebration 2024 is “Multilingual education is a pillar of intergenerational learning”.
Currently, 763 million adults without basic literacy abilities, and 250 million children and young people do not attend school. Learning literacy, and learning new languages are all aided by mother tongue education, may be overcome this problem in near future.
