New Delhi: English Language Day at the United Nations is celebrated on April 23, traditionally observed as both the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare. As well as being the English language's most famous playwright, Shakespeare had a significant impact on modern-day English.
English is one of the languages of international communication. People from different countries and cultures are increasingly able to communicate with each other in English, even if it is not their first language. This makes it an essential tool for global cooperation and diplomacy.
Significance of English Language Day at the UN
At the United Nations, English is one of the two working languages, along with French. English Language Day is the result of a 2010 initiative by the UN's Department of Global Communications, establishing language days for each of the Organization's six official languages. The purpose of the UN's language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity and to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization.
Under the initiative, UN duty stations around the world celebrate six separate days, each dedicated to one of the Organization's six official languages. With the goal of increasing awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the six working languages among the UN community, Language Days at the UN aim to entertain, as well as to inform.
An essential factor in harmonious communication among peoples, multilingualism is of particular importance to the United Nations. By promoting tolerance, multilingualism ensures effective and increased participation of all in the Organization’s work, as well as greater effectiveness, better outcomes and more involvement.
The balance among the six official languages has been an ongoing concern of the Secretary-General. From 1946 to the present, numerous activities have been undertaken to promote the use of the official languages and to ensure that the United Nations, its goals and actions, are understood by the widest possible public.
Every year, World English Language Day has a different theme that highlights a different aspect of the significance of the language. The UN has previously declared the themes "English as a Global Language" and "English and Creativity" for this day, which highlight the language's impact on international culture, education, and communication, respectively.
However, there is no official announcement for this year's theme yet. The main purpose of the UN's language days is to observe multilingualism and cultural diversity. The days also promote the equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organisation.
At the UN, the Language days aim to entertain and inform about the goal of raising awareness and respect for the history, culture, and achievements of each of the six working languages among the UN community.
It is worth noting that the United Nations Secretary-General on 3 September 2019 appointed Movses Abelian of Armenia (as well as a national of Georgia), Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference management, as Coordinator for Multilingualism. The General Assembly resolution 69/250 was implemented for it. He is responsible for coordinating the overall implementation of multilingualism Secretariat-wide.
The main aim is to help the staff of the United Nations so that they can communicate in a gender-inclusive way in the six official languages of the Organisation. English Language Day is observed on 23 April to generate awareness regarding the importance of language.
Who is William Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare was a playwright, poet, and actor from England, popularly known as 'Bard of Avon'. The widely regarded English-language author and the greatest dramatist have a total of 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three lengthy narrative poems, a few other verses, and a lot more as his legacy for the world. Most of his work was based on Tragedy, and experts believe most of them were instances of his unfortunate life.
He started a prosperous career in London between 1585 and 1592 as an actor, playwright, and co-owner of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, subsequently known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford at the age of 49 (about 1613), where he passed away three years later.
