World Kiswahili Language Day

On July 7th, 2022, the UNESCO Addis Ababa Liaison Office, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), celebrated the World Kiswahili Language Day. This first and historic celebration which was held under the theme: "Kiswahili for Peace and Prosperity" was attended by Officials from the African Union Commission, the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Diplomatic Community and International Organizations in Addis Ababa.

The celebration of the World Kiswahili Language Day on July 7th was adopted by the 41st General Conference of UNESCO in its Resolution 53 (41C/Resolution 53) and is in line with the General Assembly Resolution 71/328 on multilingualism in which the Assembly called upon all departments and offices with the Secretariat to fully support the work of the Coordinator for Multilingualism in the implementation of the relevant mandates on multilingualism. This ceremony also intended to recognize the efforts by the African Union to officiate the use of the Kiswahili language through its Decision Assembly/AU/Draft/Dec.21(XXXV) and its commitment to promote the use of Kiswahili language as a beacon for peace and ensure "An Africa with a strong cultural identity, a common heritage, and shared values and ethics.

In their welcoming remarks, both Dr. Yumiko Yokozeki Director of the UNESCO Addis Ababa Liaison Office, and Ms. Nita Kumaree Deerpalsing, Director for Publications, Conference & Knowledge Management Division, representing Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the ECA, Dr. Vera Songwe, recalled that Kiswahili is one of the 10 most African spoken languages in the world and that is a beacon for shared cultural identities and historical values. Linguistic and multilingualism is a core value of the United Nations and an essential factor for harmonious communication between people as it can be used as an instrument to promote peace, tolerance, understanding and development. Ms. Nita Kumaree Deerpalsing thanks and commended UNESCO for the celebration of this day.

On behalf of the Eastern African Community, H.E.Jean Njeri Kamau, Ambassador of Kenya to the African Union, recalled that Kenya supported UN Resolution 7328 and is committed to enhance the vulgarization of Kiswahili. For H.E., "The adoption of Kiswahili as an AU working language has enhanced political, social and economic integration in the continent, and it is an indispensable tool in the achievement of the SDGs and Agenda 2063".The Ambassador also emphasized on the fact that as a regional lingua franca, Kiswahili brings political harmonization among member states and strengthens civic literacy. Concluding her remarks, H.E Jean Njeri Kamau. by congratulating UNESCO's Decision and mentioned that 7th July has been officially included in the EAC calendar as annual celebration. Finally, she congratulated the Republic of Uganda for making teaching and speaking of Kiswahili compulsory in Ugandan schools.

Taking the floor on behalf of H.E. Minata Cessouma Samate, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHASD), Mrs. Mariama Cisse, Director of the Department for HHASD, emphasized on the necessity to decolonize languages in most African countries to enhance national cohesion by promoting the Dar-Es-Salam Framework. She also reflected on the close relationship between language and development explaining that "meaningful development is not possible with the presence of language barriers". The Director informed the participants that the AU had instructed the African Language Week, from January 24th-31st. Finally, Mrs. Cisse expressed her sincere gratitude to UNESCO for its contribution to the promotion and development of African languages and culture particularly for having dedicated a day for the Kiswahili language.

The opening remarks were followed by a series of speeches by East African Community Heads of State on the importance of Kiswahili and a documentary on late Jomo Kenyatta, first President of the Republic of Kenya. The audience was then invited by the Dr. Yumiko Yokozeki to stand and perform together a song in Kiswahili by the Pan-African artist Miriam Makeba, "Malaika". Emotion could be felt in the room.

The celebration was also marked by a round table under the theme: "Kiswahili Language: Towards Unity, Peace and Prosperity". This round table was animated by Ms Mercy Wambui, Chief of Communication and External Media Relations Section in the Office of the Executive Secretary. For the circumstance, the panel was composed of H.E. Zahra Kamil, Ambassador of la Francophonie to the African Union, H.E. Daniel Owassa, Ambassador of Congo to the AU and Chair of the PSC for the month of June, Dr. Lang Fafa Dampha, Executive Secretary of the ACALAN and Mrs Ana Elisa Santana Afonso, Former Director of the UNESCO Addis Ababa Liaison Office and President of RE-AFRICA.

The panelists reflected on the importancee of Kiswahili Language for African Unity, not just for its cultural significance and how interesting it is but on its substantive importance as a language.

For the Executive Secretary of ACALAN, from the creation of the OAU, African leaders realized and understood the importance of languages for African Unity, development and integration. That's why Article 29 of the OAU Charter states that: "The working languages of the Organization and all its institutions shall be, if possible African languages, English and French, Arabic and Portuguese". After the transformation of the OAU to the AU in 2002, this article was reproduced exactly the same way in the AU Constitutive Act in its Article 25. Also, the establishment of the Inter-African Bureau of Languages in Kampala in the 1970s testifies the importance of African languages. Dr. Dampha emphasized that when it comes to Kiswahili, ACALAN developed the Dar-Es-Salam Framework of Action in 2019 which is a general commitment from African Union Member States to implement Article 25 of the Constitutive Act. For Dr. Dampha, "Kiswahili belongs to all Africans. We must now find ways to use in education, academics, economics and every other spheres. Kiswahili is paramount for the African continent".

For Mrs. Ana Elisa Santana Afonso, African languages are at the core of Africa's reinvention and the promotion of Kiswahili as a language of Unity and Freedom is a foundation to promote an African citizenship, cultures and values. Mrs. Santana, recalled that Kiswahili is at the core of Pan-Africanism, it represents a worldwide interculturality and the Unity it creates goes beyond Africa.

The Representative of the OIF to the African Union shared the journey of the French language in the world and recalled that accents, pronunciation and sentences structures are different from a country to another. H.E. Zahra Kamil congratulated the African Union and UNESCO and emphasized on the fact that the diversity of Kiswahili speakers should be considered as an asset. To conclude her remarks, the Ambassador stated that: "OIF stands by the African Union to support and promote the vulgarization of Kiswahili".

Taking the floor to recognize the importance of this first World Kiswahili Language Day, H.E. James Peter Morgan, Ambassador of South Sudan to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, recalled on the strategic role played by South Sudan to make sure the Decision to approve Kiswahili as an AU working language was endorsed. H.E. mentioned that when South Sudan became independent in 2011, H.E. Salva Kirr, President of South Sudan, requested 200 Kiswahili teachers from Tanzania to start teaching Kiswahili in South Sudan. For H.E., Kiswahili is the language of Africa's Unity and its power. The Ambassador concluded his remarks by mentioning a joke: "Kiswahili was born in Zanzibar, it grew up in Kenya where in became a little bit sick, completely in Uganda and died in South Sudan".The round table was concluded by a quote from Kenyan writer Onyango: "The poet or story teller cannot perform his or her function within society unless he or she shares and enriches its tongue (the tongue of the society)".

Finally, to conclude the ceremony, H.E. Innocent Shiyo, thanked UNESCO, the African Union and all participants on behalf of the people of the United Republic of Tanzania and all the Kiswahili speaking countries. H.E. Shiyo commended the decision of the Government of the Republic of Uganda to introduce Kiswahili as a subject in its schools. The Ambassador also mentioned that Tanzania had just signed an MOU with the Republic of South Africa to introduce Kiswahili in its education programs. H.E. concluded by these strong words: "Kiswahili is a strong language for Africa".