The annual day to celebrate language diversity and variety worldwide occurs on February 21st. This year the day is observed with the theme of “Local languages for global citizenship: spotlight on science”.

For the occasion of International Mother Language Day, Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO delivered a message to UN member countries. She states in her message:

“The protection and promotion of mother languages are keys to global citizenship and authentic mutual understanding. Understanding and speaking more than one language leads to a greater understanding of the wealth of cultural interactions in our world. Recognizing local languages enables more people to make their voices heard and take an active part in their collective fate. That is why UNESCO makes every effort to promote the harmonious coexistence of the 7,000 languages spoken by humanity.”

More than 50 % of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken in the world are likely to die out within a few generations, and 96 % of these languages are spoken by a mere 4 % of the world”s population. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given pride of place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.