UNESCO: 1° GIORNO MONDIALE DELLE LINGUE MATERNE
Si è celebrata il 21 febbraio alla sede dell’UNESCO la prima giornata mondiale delle lingue materne, promossa dall’Organizzazione per promuovere la diversità linguistica nel mondo.
Tra gli altri vi hanno partecipato il neoeletto Direttore Generale, Matsuura, e l’ambascatrice di buona volontà dell’UNESCO per le lingue ed ex Presindentessa islandese, Finnbogadottir.
Questi i comunicati stampa in francese ed inglese diffusi dalla stessa UNESCO.
PREMIERE CELEBRATION DE LA JOURNEE
INTERNATIONALE DE LA LANGUE MATERNELLE
Paris, 21 f‚vrier {N°2000-14} – La Journ‚e internationale de la langue maternelle, proclam‚e par la Conf‚rence g‚n‚rale de l’UNESCO en novembre 1999, a ‚t‚ c‚l‚br‚e aujourd’hui, pour la premiŠre fois, lors d’une c‚r‚monie qui s’est tenue au siŠge de l’Organisation.
Le Directeur g‚n‚ral de l’UNESCO, Ko‹chiro Matsuura, qui a ouvert la c‚r‚monie, a soulign‚ que " les Etats membres de l’UNESCO, en d‚cidant de c‚l‚brer les langues maternelles, ont voulu rappeler qu’elles constituent non seulement un ‚l‚ment essentiel du patrimoine culturel de l’humanit‚, mais l’expression irr‚ductible de la cr‚ativit‚ humaine dans toute sa diversit‚ ".
Soulignant que près de 6 000 langues parl‚es ont ‚t‚ recens‚es dans le monde, Ko‹chiro Matsuura a poursuivi : " Elles r‚vŠlent la formidable capacit‚ de l’ˆtre humain … cr‚er les outils de sa communication, de sa perception et de sa r‚flexion. Elles sont le miroir de l’ƒme de la soci‚t‚ dans laquelle elles sont n‚es mais reflètent aussi l’histoire de leurs contacts. Dans ce sens, on pourrait dire qu’il n’y a que des langues m‚tisses ".
Il a ajout‚ : " Encourager la promotion de la diversit‚ linguistique et le d‚veloppement de l’‚ducation multilingue dès le plus jeune ƒge, c’est assurer la pr‚servation du pluralisme culturel tout autant que les conditions de la compr‚hension internationale, de la tol‚rance et du respect mutuels ".
Vigdis Finnbogadottir, Ambassadrice de bonne volont‚ de l’UNESCO pour les langues et ancienne Pr‚sidente de l’Islande, assistait … cette premiŠre c‚l‚bration de la Journ‚e internationale de la langue maternelle. Elle a soulign‚ la valeur double des langues, en tant que moyen de communication mais aussi en tant qu’expression d’une culture, d’une identit‚, avant de les qualifier de " tr‚sors les plus pr‚cieux mais aussi les plus fragiles de l’humanit‚ ".
Dans un message lu … la c‚r‚monie, le Secr‚taire g‚n‚ral des Nations Unies, Kofi Annan, a tenu … s’associer … cette Journ‚e internationale permettant de faire prendre conscience … tous les peuples de la valeur des diff‚rentes langues. Affirmant le caractŠre essentiel de la conservation de la diversit‚ des langues locales, il a appel‚ … redoubler d’efforts pour la d‚fense de ce patrimoine commun de l’humanit‚.
Pour plus d’information, consultez le site : http://webworld.unesco.org/imld/
INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY
CELEBRATED FOR THE FIRST TIME
Paris, February 21 {No.2000-14} – International Mother Language Day, proclaimed by UNESCO’s General Conference in November 1999, was celebrated for the first time today with a ceremony at Organization Headquarters.
The event was opened by UNESCO Director-General Ko‹chiro Matsuura who stressed that "by deciding to celebrate mother tongues, UNESCO’s Member States wished to recall that languages are not only an essential part of humanity’s cultural heritage, but the irreducible expression of human creativity and of its great diversity."
Highlighting the fact that close to 6000 languages are estimated to be spoken in today’s world, Mr Matsuura said: "They testify to humanity’s astounding ability to create tools of communication, to its perception and reflection. They are the mirror of the souls of the societies in which they are born and they reflect the history of their contacts. In this sense, it could be said that all languages are cross-bred."
He added: "Favouring the promotion of linguistic diversity and the development of multilingual education from an early age helps preserve cultural diversity and the conditions for international understanding, tolerance and mutual respect."
Vigdis Finnbogadottir, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Languages and former President of Iceland, took part in the first celebration of International Mother Language Day. She highlighted the value of languages both as means of communication and as expressions of culture and identity. Ms Finnbogadottir qualified languages as "humanity’s most precious and fragile treasures."
In a message read at the ceremony, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed support for International Mother Language Day which, he said, raises awareness among all peoples regarding the value of languages. Reaffirming the capital importance of preserving language diversity, he called for increased efforts to conserve languages as a shared heritage of humanity.
For more information: http://webworld.unesco.org/imld/
