[Edling] 21 February is International Mother Language Day

[Francis M. Hult via Edling]

The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative
of Bangladesh <https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000120679.page=184>.
It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference
<http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001179/117961e.pdf#page=38> and has
been observed throughout the world since 2000.

UNESCO believes in the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity for
sustainable societies. It is within its mandate for peace that it works to
preserve the differences in cultures and languages that foster tolerance
and respect for others.

Linguistic diversity
<http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/56/262&Lang=E> is
increasingly threatened as more and more languages disappear. Globally 40
per cent of the population does not have access to an education in a
language they speak or understand. Nevertheless, progress is being made in
mother tongue-based multilingual education with growing understanding of
its importance, particularly in early schooling, and more commitment to its
development in public life.

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

Learn more:

https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/motherlanguageday
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