Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Audrey Azoulay on Sunday called on the international community to "rethink literacy as part of the right to education and a means to create more inclusive and linguistically and culturally diverse societies."
"Our world is rich and diverse with about 7,000 living languages," Azoulay said on the occasion of International Literacy Day 2019.
Azoulay said that these languages are instruments for communication, engagement in lifelong learning, and participation in society and the world of work.
In her remarks, the UNESCO chief said that today the use of more than one language in daily life has become much more common with greater human mobility and the growing ubiquity of multimodal and instantaneous communication.
While the use of certain languages has expanded for cross-country and community dialogue, numerous minority and indigenous languages have been endangered, she said, adding that these trends have implications for literacy development.
Moreover, Azoulay said about 40 percent of the world's population does not have access to education in a language they speak or understand.
"We need to change this by making policies and practice more linguistically and culturally relevant, enriching multilingual literate environments and exploring the potential of digital technology," she added.
"International Literacy Day" is celebrated annually on Sept. 8 across the world. It highlights the importance of literacy, or the ability to read and write for individuals, communities and societies.
According to UNESCO's official website, International Literacy Day 2019 focuses on "literacy and multilingualism."
