Celebration of International Mother Language Day

Excellencies,
Dear colleagues:

There is this word in my mother tongue Danish that is quite hard to pronounce and even harder to explain: “hygge”.

You could translate it roughly as “cosiness”, but it means so much more than that. Really, it is tricky to define: it’s a feeling, an experience, a sensation. It means creating a warm atmosphere. It is enjoying the good things in life with good people. The warm amber glow of candlelight is hygge. Friends and family – that’s hygge too.

Why am I telling you about hygge? To illustrate, from my own experience as a Dane, how each language does not just say things differently from another language, it often says more, it broadens our horizons of understanding, it enriches our world.

̶ The Inuit have over 50 different words for snow, from “snow that falls softly” to “snow that is good for driving sled.”
̶ In Yiddish, there is a word for a person who is honorable, decent, authentic, someone who always helps others in need. He or she is simply a “Mensch”.
̶ In Bantu, there is a word to describe the positive opposite of a nightmare: “Bilita Mpash” – literally, an amazing dream.

There are many more examples but the point is clear: The limits of our language are the limits of our world – and with every language that ceases to be spoken, our world becomes smaller, poorer, and lesser.

And yet, over 50 percent of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world today are likely to die out within a few generations. Indeed, every two weeks another language disappears forever.

With every language that dies, traditions, memories, expressions, knowledge, and understanding are lost – and with them invaluable resources for ensuring our future will be as rich as our heritage.

We must protect the linguistic diversity of our world.

Doing so fosters inclusivity and signals reverence for diversity. But failure to do so can lead to marginalization and a sense of victimization. To leave no one behind – our credo for the Sustainable Development Goals – must also mean to communicate in as many languages as we can to reach as many people as we can.

I am proud that multilingualism is alive and well at UNOG. Our staff represents a broad tapestry of languages, with over 100 nationalities and some 69 mother tongues. This diversity is invaluable because it is the very precondition for us to serve at the world’s only common table, the United Nations

In closing, let me congratulate Ms. Gabina Funegra for bringing her film on the Quechua language to the Palais and to thank you for your work in publicizing the language itself and showcasing the remarkable efforts by those working to ensure its survival.

I wish you all a Happy Mother Language Day!

Thank you. Shokran. Xie Xie. Merci. Spasibo. Gracias. Mange tak.