International Mother Language day/UNESCO

Subject: International organisations and events

Context: The UNESCO observes 21 February as the International Mother Language Day.

Concept:

According to the latest UNESCO Atlas of World’s language in Danger, around 197 of indigenous languages of India was either vulnerable, endangered or extinct as of 2017.

About UNESCO

It is a specialised agency of the UN seeking to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.
Its HQ is in PAris with more than 50 offices around the world.
It has 193 Members and 11 Associate Members and is governed by the General Conference and the Executive Board.
The Israel, Liechtenstein, United States are three UN states which are not member of the UNESCO currently (Cook Islands, Niue, and Palestine are UNESCO member but not that of UN).

Some of the initiatives of UNESCO

World Heritage Convention and List
Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme
International Geoscience and Global GeoparksProgramme (IGGP) – harnesses the intellectual capacity of a worldwide network of geoscientists to lay the foundation for our planet’s future, focusing on responsible resource extraction, natural hazard resilience and preparedness, and adaptability in the era of a changing climate
International Hydrological Programme (IHP) – only intergovernmental programme of the United Nations system devoted to water research and management, and related education and capacity development
UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger – To raise awareness about language endangerment and the need to safeguard the world’s linguistic diversity among policy-makers, speaker communities and the general public, and to be a tool to monitor the status of endangered languages and the trends in linguistic diversity at the global level.