International Mother Language Day 2009
UNESCO is launching a new edition of the Atlas of endangered languages on the event of International Mother Language Day (21 February). The Atlas will for the first time be published as an interactive, digital tool with updated information on over 2500 languages.
The fruit of a collaborative effort by a team of linguists under the direction of Australian linguist Christopher Moseley, the Atlas is available free of charge worldwide. It will be continually updated and will allow users to produce their own maps, based on a country or region, or to conduct searches by language category – extinct, critically endangered, severely endangered, definitively endangered.
“It has become clear that languages, which form part of the identity of individuals and peoples, are key to the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals. Links between multilingual education (involving the mother tongue, national languages and international languages), Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals now constitute the pillars of any sustainable-development strategy.”
Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO
For details of UNESCO Headquarter events to mark the day, click here.
To read more about UNESCO’s work on safeguarding endangered languages, click here.
About International Mother Language Day
The International Mother Language Day, proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1999, has been observed yearly since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
It originated as the international recognition of Language Movement Day, which has been commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952.
The tenth International Mother Language Day on 21 February 2009 also provides an opportunity to recall the objective of this celebration to Member States: the recognition of linguistic diversity and the importance of multilingual education.
Written: 10/02/2009 , last modified: 10/02/2009
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