UN Chinese Language Day 2019: UN family celebrates Chinese Language Day in Ethiopia

Chinese Language Day is celebrated globally on April 20. At present, one out of five individuals around the globe comprehend the language. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) distinguished the date in 2010 “to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages throughout the organization.”

Why April 20?

The date was picked by the UN to pay tribute to Cang Jie, a legendary figure who is ventured to have designed Chinese characters around 5,000 years back.

United Nations staff on Friday denoted the Chinese Language Day with an expect to advance Chinese language and culture inside the premises of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.

The Chinese Language Day occasion, which was sorted out by the UN-ECA as a team with the Chinese Mission to the African Union (AU), highlighted presentations on Chinese culture, presentation, Kung Fu exhibition, Kung Fu performance, traditional Chinese musical instrument performance and Chinese tea ceremony, among other activities.

Carlos Hadaad, Director of Division of Administration at the ECA, said amid the occasion that the Chinese Language Day celebration signifies the promotion of multilingualism of Chinese language just as different aspects of Chinese culture.

Hadaad additionally noticed that the recognition of the Chinese language day under the UN platform is a demonstration of the strong gratefulness for the Chinese language, just as China’s role in promoting multilingualism.

“Multilingualism is not only an essential factor in harmonizing communication among people, but it’s also regarded by the United Nations General Assembly as the core value of the organization,” he said, adding “By promoting tolerance, multilingualism ensures that we can all participate effectively in the organization’s work.”

The six UN languages incorporate Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

As indicated by the Confucius Institute at the Addis Ababa University, the Chinese Language Day festivity occasions could be viewed as an essential platform in making awareness of the Chinese language specifically and Chinese culture in general to the rest of the world.

Liu Yuxi, Head of the Chinese Mission to the AU, additionally said that remembrance of the Chinese language in partnership with the UN “has become an important platform for cultural exchanges between China and other countries of the world.”

“China enjoys an ancient civilization whose history goes back thousands of years. The Chinese language, both in speaking and in writing, are deeply rooted in China’s traditional culture. It is now becoming more and more popular with the development of the Chinese civilization,” Liu said.

“As carriers of the Chinese culture, the Chinese language has made a positive contribution to the development and progress of the world’s civilizations, and is exhibiting new life under new circumstances,” the ambassador included.