The United Nations announced Friday that December 18 each year will become an international day of observance for the Arabic language. The announcement was part of a new initiative that seeks to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of the world body's six official languages. As well as Arabic, the United Nations announced days of observance for French (March 20), English (April 23), Russian (June 6), Spanish (October 12), and Chinese, though a date has yet to be determined. The new initiative-which seeks to increase awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of each of the six working languages among the U.N. community-is part of this year's observance of International Mother Language Day, observed annually on February 21. “Languages are the best vehicles of mutual understanding and tolerance. Respect for all languages is a key factor for ensuring peaceful coexistence, without exclusion, of societies and all of their members,” the United Nations said. International Mother Language Day, proclaimed by UNESCO's General Conference in 1999, has been observed every year since 2000 to focus on endangered languages and the importance of preserving these languages. UNESCO says half of the world's 6,500 languages will disappear by the end of the century.
