The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, pursuant to a resolution of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
.
The resolution also reaffirmed the need to achieve full parity among the six
official languages on United Nations websites.
Origination
The Year was intended to address issues of
linguistic diversity
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
(in the context of
cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different c ...
), respect for all languages, and
multilingualism
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...
. The resolution also discussed language issues in the United Nations itself.
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
was charged with coordinating observance of the Year, and officially launched it on the occasion of
International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formal ...
, 21 February 2008.
Observances
In addition to official events run by UNESCO, various national, academic and non-governmental organizations sponsored events, websites, and other observances of the IYL. The UNESCO website has
list of projectssubmitted by individuals and organizations.
See also
*
Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (known also as the Barcelona Declaration) is a document signed by the International PEN Club, and several non-governmental organizations in 1996 to support linguistic rights, especially those of endang ...
External links
UNESCO gateway page: "2008, International Year of Languages - Languages matter!"U.N. gateway page: "International Year of Languages"ICVWiki page on "World Network for Linguistic Diversity" (Maaya) which includes a calendar of events for IYLSupport for International Year of Languages 2008
References
Bibliography
*Jostes, Brigitte (2012): Anno 2008: Internationales Sprachenjahr und internationale Fragen der sprachlichen Bildung. In
PhiN
60, 14–47.
{{UN International Years
Languages, International Year of
2008 in international relations
International language observances