Movses Abelian is Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, and United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism.

Linguistic Diversity: An Imperative for the United Nations

Under-Secretary-General Movses Abelian speaking with the President of the 76th session of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, in the General Assembly Hall. Photo credit: UN DGACM
An interpreter at work during the high-level virtual event on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond. ©UN Photo/Evan Schneider
In classrooms or online, every learner should be able to study in their mother tongue from the earliest years of schooling to avoid knowledge gaps. ©UNESCO

This year's observance of International Mother Language Day also occurs a few weeks after the launch of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032) and provides a further opportunity to highlight the extent to which languages and cultures are intertwined and interdependent. Cultures find expression through languages, and they feed languages, nourishing and enriching them.