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© UNESCO
Poster of the Year

Languages: spaces of interaction and rapprochement

The International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures is an invitation to talk. Multilingualism is essential to the conversation that leads to mutual understanding. Language learning and translation are therefore vital to the unity of humankind. Such are the major thrusts of the 11th International Mother Language Day. A printed version of the updated UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger is underway. A legacy of our cultural diversity, languages give access to the “minds of men” in which the “defences of peace must be constructed”. 

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Detail from The Creation of Adam, Michel-Ange, Sixtine Chapel © UNESCO

UNESCO: a laboratory of ideas on cultural issues

UNESCO is in a unique position to bring worldwide expertise to bear on the configurations reshaping our ways of relating to one another, our identities and our communities, and their ethical and normative implications. Its natural partners in this endeavour are scholars involved in every field of knowledge. At the helm, the humanities: keys to the messages lying within cultural creations.