NAIROBI, Kenya Jul 2 – The United Nation General Assembly Member states have adopted a historic resolution tabled by Kenya and Tanzania on behalf of the African Group proclaiming 7th July as the World Kiswahili Language Day.
There are currently 193 UN Member States with each member having a seat in the General Assembly made the resolution in a bid to promote multilingualism as a core value of the United Nations.
“The resolution recognized the role played by Kiswahili language in promoting peace, unity, socio-economic development and cultural diversity, as well as creating awareness and fostering dialogues among peoples,” the Permanent Mission to UN stated.
Kiswahili is one of the most widely used languages of the African family, and the most widely spoken in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is among the 10 most widely spoken languages in the world, with more than 200 million speakers. It is one of the lingua franca in many countries within East, Central and Southern Africa as well as in the Middle East.
Kiswahili language is one of the official languages of the African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC).
While Kiswahili is the region’s lingua franca, spoken extensively in Tanzania as both national and official language, it was adopted as the official language of the EAC in 2017. EAC member states are Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and DRC.
In Kenya, Kiswahili has been the national language since 1964 and is official since 2010. Burundi made Kiswahili a compulsory subject from primary school level in 2007, while Rwanda adopted it as an official language in 2017.
It is therefore, an indispensable tool in achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and in facilitating regional integration particularly in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA).
In the 1950s the United Nations established the Kiswahili language unit of United Nations Radio, and today Kiswahili is the only African language within the Directorate of the Global Communications at the United Nations.
