UNGA: India-sponsored Resolution on Multilingualism

June 13, 2022

On June 10, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted an India-led resolution on multilingualism mentioning Hindi language for the first time.

Key Facts

This resolution encourages United Nations to continue disseminating important communications and messages in official and non-official languages, including Hindi.
UN resolution also mentions Urdu and Bangla for the very first time.

UN’s adoption of Multilingualism and its significance for India

Multilingualism is considered as a core value of United Nations. Adoption of multilingualism is significant for India, because this resolution was adopted by UN with the objective of enhancing public outreach of United Nations in Hindi language. It also seeks to spread greater awareness regarding the global issues among Hindi-speaking populations worldwide.

India’s contributions

India has been coordinating with UN Department of Global Communications (DGC) since 2018 by consolidating news and multimedia content in Hindi languages and providing extra-budgetary contribution to the mainstream.
India also launched ‘Hindi@UN’ project in 2018 with the aim of enhancing public outreach of United Nations in Hindi Language, and raise awareness on global issues among millions of Hindi-speaking populations worldwide.

Significance of Multilingualism for United Nations

Multilingualism is significant for United Nations, because it is factor in harmonious communication among people. It is an enabler of multilateral diplomacy. Multilingualism at this forum ensures effective participation of all in the work of organisation, greater efficiencies and transparency.

Latest official languages of UN

The latest official languages of UN include- Arabic, English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French. English and French are the working languages of United Nations Secretariat.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)

UNGA is one among six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It is the main policymaking and representative organ of the UN. It is responsible for UN budget. It is the only UN organ, where all the member states have equal representation.

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