A live performance of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", featuring the "Elevenchor" of the Vienna Boys' Choir and the "Talespin" ensemble, formed the centerpiece of the kick-off event for a unique project entitled "Mother Tongue and Cultural Identity" which took place at the Leopold Museum in Vienna on 22 April 2009. Under the patronage of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna, the Vienna School Board (Stadtschulrat) and the Vienna International School, and with support from the City of Vienna, the U.S. Embassy Vienna, and Leopold Museum, the project invites students aged 10-18 to submit an original work of art (music, performance, literature, or fine art) that expresses the student's mother tongue and cultural identity. The project will culminate with a gala event in February 2010 to coincide with International Mother Language Day.

"Talespin" was inspired by the English notion of "spinning a tale" and combines traditional folk tales from around the world with original music and art in live performances. "Talespin" enjoys discovering and "Talespinning" stories from all over the world. Stories are reflections of the hopes and values of every culture and reveal human characteristics shared by all. The tale featured at this particular event, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, with an original score by Jason Gray (USA) and illustrations by Rima
Al-Juburi (Iraq/Austria) included a notion of the power and magic of language, epitomized by the universally known command "Open Sesame!"

The theme of the evening and of the project was introduced by UNIS Vienna's Director who said: "Traditionally, folk tales and stories played an important role in the life of a community. They were used to entertain and to educate young and old, to teach, particularly children, about the community’s traditions and values. [...] Times have moved on since – we now live in the information age where theatre, opera, movies, television, and the Internet have taken over the traditional function of conveying important cultural information and messages. The function of storytelling has not changed, just the media have. All these media are potential vehicles for reinforcing important messages of ethics and the necessity to respect human rights -- important messages that are enshrined in the United Nations charter and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Speaking on behalf of the Vienna School Board, the Inspector for Music spoke of the central role played by music (as the universal language) in conveying cultural information and in defining identities -- both collective and individual. "Finding oneself, one's own cultural identity, seeking answers to the eternal question "who am I?" are important issues in the life of any young person between the ages of 12 and 16 and the source of much confusion." And music can play a key part on the road to that
personal discovery.

The project is open to all Vienna schools and aims to allow students to develop their understanding of their own cultural identity, as well as honouring that of others. Throughout the project there will be a strong focus not just on the finished work, but on the process of discovery and learning with support from the organizers. Students are invited to reflect on who they are and then encouraged to express themselves in a variety of media: in an original piece of music or dance, in a piece of art, or by writing. Both individual and group projects will be accepted and all submissions will be exhibited at the end of the project, with three pieces to be performed live at the final gala event.

UNIS Vienna is offering active support to the project, in the context of the Creative Communities Outreach Initiative, spearheaded by the Department of Public Information in New York. By reaching out to and engaging the creative community -- television, film, the arts -- United Nations entities are able to reach new and different segments of society with messages of the importance of tolerance, human rights and cultural diversity.

For more information on Talespin and the project, please visit Talespin's website.

On 20 February 2009, the United Nations Information Office (UNO) in Yerevan and the Department of Romance and Germanic Philology of Yerevan State University arranged a round-table discussion to mark International Mother Language Day.

The panelists of the event held at Yerevan State University were the Dean of the Department of Romance and Germanic Philology, the UNO/DPI Officer-in-Charge and the Head of the Language Unit affiliated with the Ministry of Education and Science. Participants were professors from the Department of Armenian Philology and Department of Romance and Germanic Philology, as well as university students and several journalists.

The Dean raised the role of mother languages in our global world. The DPI Officer-in-Charge provided background information about the observance. She also read excerpts from Mr. Kiyo Akasaka’s statement of the Day. Mr. Akasaka is the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information at the United Nations.
The Head of the Language Unit stated his concerns about the purity and inadequate usage of the Armenian language in public events, on public TV and in the Parliament.  

On 15 April 2008, DPI launched an exhibition of its publications in the Armenian language which were locally produced between 1996 and 2007. During this time more than 90 books, bulletins, booklets, posters and calendars were published with an overall print run of 100,000. The title chosen for the exhibition was the slogan of the International Year of Languages: “Languages Matter”.

The exhibition remained open to visitors until the end of April. Several of these locally produced materials as well as some received from UN headquarters were made available for free to anyone interested in having a copy. During these two weeks, visitors of this exhibition included Republican librarians, students from several universities, high-school students from various regions of Armenia, and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

The exhibition was organized within the framework of “Armenian Library Week”, a 2001 initiative. Every year a week in April is designated as Armenian Library Week. UN DPI and the UN Reference Library take an active part in the events that are organized. UN DPI has also hosted the members of the Armenian Library Information System network in the UN Reference Library and initiated a permanent collaboration with the network.

This year, the Armenian Library Week took place from 14 to 21 April. The UN Reference Library was again on the list of participants. As part of the scheduled events and activities, April 15 was mentioned as Mother Language Day, a national initiative distinct from 21 February which is International Mother Language Day.

The General Assembly has proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of languages with the slogan “Languages Matter”. It is estimated that more than 50% of some 6,700 languages spoken in the world are threatened with extinction and on the average of every two weeks a language ceases to be spoken. According to experts, 96% of languages are spoken by only 4% of the population. And it means: “When languages fade, so does the world’s rich tapestry of cultural diversity”.

On 21 February, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Lusaka together with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Zambia Commission for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrated International Mother Language Day at the University of Zambia Chapel under the theme "Languages Matter."  The general public, pupils from schools around Lusaka and students from the University of Zambia attended the observance.

The main event was a panel discussion with experts from the Ministry of Education, the University of Zambia, UNDP, and UNESCO among others.  They discussed the role of traditional languages in development, the state of local languages in Zambia, the role of local languages in schools and the conflicts that arise between traditional languages. In addition, all participants wrote a greeting in their mother language on a poster which was exhibited in the UNIC Lusaka library.