French Language Day 2020- Facts and Significance
On March 20, the United Nations celebrates French Language Day, In 2010 United Nations Language Days were launched to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity. Every year the UN observes six “Language Days,” dedicated to the six official languages of the United Nations, namely Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Language days are an opportunity for the international community to become more conscious of the history, culture and use of language.
Multilingualism is a basic concept and a core principle of the United Nations. It also guarantees effective and enhanced participation for all in the decision-making processes of the Company, as well as improved performance, better outcomes, greater accountability and greater participation for all.
Why French Language Day is observed on 20th March?
Date of the Day of the French Language was selected symbolically with reference to 20 March 1970, which marks the creation of the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF), the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT).
Fifty years of Francophonie
The Francophonie celebrates also a significant anniversary in 2020: “fifty years of life”. This is an opportunity for the OIF to return to its roots, their spirit, but also to prepare itself for the future and envision tomorrow’s Francophonie .Several activities will be held on five continents during the year, from 20 March to 31 December 2020.
French Language Facts that you should know
- French is the Indo-European family’s romantic language. This comes down from the Latin Vulgar of the Roman Empire, like all Roman languages.
- French is an official language in 29 countries spanning different continents, most of them members of the Organization internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), a group of 84 countries sharing French official use or teaching.
- French is reported to have some 76 million speakers and about 235 million fluent speakers a day and an further 77 to 110 million secondary speakers who use it at various levels as a second language, mostly in Africa.
- French is also the 18th most common language in the world, 6th widely spoken by the overall number of speakers and 2nd or 3rd most learned language worldwide.
- French has numerous homophones like Words share the same pronunciation but with different meanings.
- As one of the official languages, five Commonwealth countries have French: Canada, Cameroon, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Vanuatu.
UN Initiative in 2020
In 2020, the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary with a wide and inclusive global discussion on the role of global co-operation in building our desired future. Under the UN Initiative 75, the United Nations organizes dialogs in many areas of the world with various partners. The goal is to meet as many people as possible, to hear your hopes and fears, and to learn from your experiences, and also to inspire your thoughts and actions worldwide.
Campaign “Your opinion counts” is launched to gather views and ideas that will be addressed to world leaders and senior UN officials at an important event to be held at the 75th session of the General Assembly in September 2020. Thoughts and ideas of Individuals will be disseminated publicly and through various partners.
