WORLD ARABIC LANGUAGE DAY
On December 18 of each year, the international community celebrates the World Arabic Language Day in honor of this rich cultural language spoken by more than 400 million people over the world.
This particular date was chosen to celebrate the Arabic language as the day on which the United Nations General Assembly, under the presidency of Algeria in 1973, adopted its historic decision to make Arabic the sixth official language of the Organization.
The United Nations and UNESCO have chosen to celebrate on this day the contribution of the Arabic language to human civilization and culture, as the Arabic language is a pillar of the cultural diversity of humanity with its various forms and styles, oral, written, eloquent and colloquial, and its various lines and prose. The Arabic language has created wonderful aesthetic verses that captivate hearts in various fields, including engineering, poetry, philosophy and singing.
The Arabic language allows to access a world full of diversity in all its forms, as its history is full of evidence that shows the close links that it has with a number of other languages. Not only the Arabic language was a catalyst for the production and dissemination of knowledge, and helped to transfer Greek and Roman scientific and philosophical knowledge to Europe in the Renaissance era, it also allowed intercultural dialogue along the land and sea routes of the Silk Road from the coast of India to Horn of Africa.
In Algeria, the Arabic language was the main refuge in which the Algerian people rallied to preserve their cultural identity, which was subjected to systematic war during the years of French colonialism, who tried in every way to remove this language from all aspects of life. When Algeria has regained its independence, the Government took care of teaching the Arabic language and introducing it into all stages of education and encouraging its wide use in addition to the wide support for translation and publishing activities.
This activity was strengthened by the establishment of the Supreme Council for the Arabic Language as an advisory body to the President of the Republic, working to provide ideas regarding the Arabic language in its present state and its future consequences, as stipulated in the Constitution "work for the prosperity of the Arabic language and the popularization of its use in science, technology and translation".
In addition to the activities, it organizes throughout the year as publications, forums and lectures on all topics related to the promotion of the Arabic language, the Council also celebrates the International Arabic Language Day through the organization of special activities, in particular the Supreme Council for the Arabic Language Award for Arabic Literature under the patronage of the President of the Republic, in addition to a national award for the art of Arabic calligraphy.
Specialists agree that one of the biggest challenges facing the Arabic language today is the conflict between keeping pace and modernization. Although it enjoys the status of an official language in about 25 countries, The content available on the Internet in Arabic does not exceed 3%, which limits the possibility for millions of people to benefit from Arabic knowledge, this is why experts in Arabic language, including professors, researchers, students and followers, have always worked to raised it from digital backwardness and cultural isolation and give it statue it deserves in the new world of media and new means of communication and creative educational means.
This theme will be at the heart of UNESCO's celebration of this day on 18 December 2024, as it organizes in its headquarters in Paris, an international forum on the future of the Arabic language in light of artificial intelligence, bringing together Arabic scientists, experts in the field of artificial intelligence and cultural pioneers to explore ways to bridge this digital whole in Arabic content through artificial intelligence, enhance the presence of the Arabic language on the Internet, support innovation and encourage heritage preservation.