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Tuesday 10 September 2019

Multilingualism At Center of Celebration of UNESCO International Literacy Day

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Multilingualism At Center of Celebration of UNESCO International Literacy Day

Multilingualism will be at the heart of UNESCO International Literacy Day's celebration scheduled next Monday at the UN body's headquarters in Paris.

In a statement, UNESCO explained that this year's International Literacy Day will be celebrated worldwide to promote literacy as part of the right to education, as well as a foundation for individuals’ empowerment and inclusive and sustainable development, adding that with the specific theme of 'Literacy and Multilingualism’, ILD 2019 will provide an opportunity to rethink the fundamental importance of the language and its diversity for individuals and society.

Despite progress made, literacy challenges still persist, distributed unevenly across countries and populations, it said.

"Embracing linguistic diversity in education and literacy development is central to addressing these challenges in today's world, in which multilingualism has become increasingly common with higher human mobility. Multilingualism contributes to the development of inclusive societies that allow multiple cultures, worldviews and knowledge systems to coexist and cross fertilize," the UN body said, adding that it is also "characteristics of many marginalized and at risk populations, including migrants, refugees and other people on the move."

The ILD2019 is an opportunity to rethink literacy in multilingual contexts by exploring current trends and issues of 'literacy and multilingualism’ from holistic and interdisciplinary perspectives, it said.

MAP 02 September 2019