Russian Language Day at UNESCO Headquarters

On June 6, for the first time, the celebration of the Day of the Russian Language was held at UNESCO Headquarters. The event was inaugurated by Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs Mr. Igor Barinov who highlighted the importance of the Russian language and its special place in the CIS countries.

Ambassadors and representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan who took the floor emphasized the role of Russian as a language of interethnic communication in the CIS.

The project called “Pushkin Around the World” was launched, and a book of the great Russian poet will be given to representatives of countries where Russian is used in education, culture, science and communication to highlight the role of Russian in strengthening interethnic dialogue and cooperation. The Director of the Division of External Relations of the UNESCO Secretariat, Mr. Genc Seiti, who was the first to take the book, shared some words of support, highlighting the importance of multilingualism. 

A concert programme was prepared for the Ambassadors and representatives of UNESCO with performers coming from all around the world: Russia, Belarus, Armenia, France and Japan. Among them there were groups led by Mr. Goryachkin, Honored Artist of Russia, Mr. Makaruk and Mr. Kedrov, Honored Artists of Belarus, D. Davydova, opera singer, students of Mr. Markarov, UNESCO Artist for Peace, children’s choir conducted by Ms. Ferrari. Guests who arrived at the UNESCO HQ, including compatriots, Slavists and Russian language students of French universities, watched the Russian feature film called Amanat. 

On the margins of the event Mr. Igor Barinov, Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs, held negotiations with H.E. Mr. Yang Jin, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the People’s Republic of China to UNESCO; and Ms. Anna Polezhaeva, Head of the Center of the Russian Peoples, had a working meeting with Ms. Marielza Oliveira, UNESCO Director of the Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation. 

Answering the questions of the media, H.E. Mr. Rinat Alyautdinov, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, pointed out that the declaration and celebration of language days was welcomed by the decision of the 215th session of the UNESCO Executive Board (autumn 2022) and expressed his hope that the celebration of the Russian Language Day would become a good tradition at the World Humanitarian Forum.

Source: russianunesco.mid.ru

By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 422 dated June 9, 2023, “On Assignment of Diplomatic Ranks,” Permanent Delegate of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris Rinat Alyautdinov was awarded the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. The editors of the UNESCO Vestnik join in the congratulations.