DAR ES SALAAM, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania on Friday marked the 2nd World Kiswahili Language Day with grandeur as Tanzania's Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi called for accelerated use of the language across the world.
In his address to mark the Day in Zanzibar, President Mwinyi urged Tanzania's foreign missions across the globe to open Kiswahili culture centers that could be used as platforms for teaching the language and its culture.
"Our embassy in South Korea has already opened a Kiswahili culture center and I urge other foreign missions to follow suit," he said in an address televised live by the Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation.
Mwinyi thanked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for proclaiming July 7 of each year as World Kiswahili Language Day, saying following the declaration the use of Kiswahili has kept on rising across the world.
The 41st session of UNESCO in Paris, France in 2021 proclaimed July 7 of each year as World Kiswahili Language Day, making it the first African language to be recognized in such a manner by the UN.
Mwinyi also urged relevant authorities to distribute Kiswahili books in the country's embassies abroad to enable people to access them easily.
This year's commemoration of the Day, featuring a theme of "Kiswahili Chetu, Umoja Wetu," which can be literally translated into "Our Kiswahili, Our Unity," was attended by guests from across the world, including China, Burundi, Canada, Kenya, the United States of America, Egypt, Mozambique, Nigeria, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and Comoros, and the UNESCO representative to Tanzania Michel Toto. ■
