Be the first to comment!UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day: Gozo public lecture
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On the occasion of UNESCO's International Mother Language Day 2016, the Education, Science and Culture Centre has announced its first public lecture for 2016 entitled 'Id-Djaletti u l-Wirt Lingwistiku Malti.'
The lecture will be delivered in Maltese by Mr Ruben Farrugia, Dr Joe Galea and Dr Michael Spagnol at the Education, Science and Culture Centre Hall, Wied il-Lunzjata, Victoria, Gozo, on Saturday, the 20th of February, starting at 10:00am. The public are cordially invited to attend.
International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in November 1999, It is marked on the 21st of February, which this year falls on a Sunday
On the 16th of 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 International Year of Languages, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism.
International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.
Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
2016 is the 16th anniversary of International Mother Language Day.
