UNESCO celebrates International Mother Language Day each year on 21 February since 2000.

The theme of International Mother Language Day celebration 2024 is “Multilingual education is a pillar of intergenerational learning”. Today, 250 million children and young people still do not attend school and 763 million adults do not master basic literacy skills. Mother tongue education supports learning, literacy and the acquisition of additional languages.

The event organised by UNESCO will include two panel discussions on multilingual education as a key component of quality learning. Watch the event live.

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Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, 21 February 2024

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