International Mother Language Day - 21 February

About the Day - International Mother Language Day - 21 February

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO's General Conference in November 1999. The International Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/

http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/language/index.html

The Bengali story behind International Mother Language Day
https://medium.com/@tarun_rahman/the-bengali-story-behind-international-mother-language-day-5f0346e9fcc2#.d83uvslbr

Learn Languages

Learn Language of Your Interest - Free Online Books on Learning Languages
http://nraoll.blogspot.com/2016/02/learn-language-of-your-interest-free.html

Learn Japanese

http://nraoll.blogspot.com/2016/02/learning-japanese-languages-online-book.html

Learn Marathi

Learn Marathi - Online Book

Learn Sanskrit

http://nraoll.blogspot.com/2012/01/learning-sanskrit-through-english-part_7079.html

Learn Telugu

Learn Telugu Through English - Online Book with Videos

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2016 Theme:

Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes

Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes

The theme of the 2016 International Mother Language Day is “Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes.”

This underlines the importance of mother languages for quality education and linguistic diversity, to take forward the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.


In Sustainable Development Goal 4, the 2030 Agenda focuses on quality education and lifelong learning for all, to enable every woman and man to acquire skills, knowledge, and values to become everything they wish and participate fully in their societies. This is especially important for girls and women, as well as minorities, indigenous peoples, and rural populations. This is reflected in UNESCO’s Education 2030 Framework for Action, a road-map to implement the 2030 Agenda, encouraging full respect for the use of mother language in teaching and learning, and the promotion and preservation of linguistic diversity.


UNESCO supports advancing linguistic diversity on the Internet, through support to relevant local content as well as media and information literacy.  Through the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems  programme, UNESCO is highlighting the importance of mother and local languages as channels for safeguarding and sharing indigenous cultures and knowledge, which are vast reservoirs of wisdom.

Mother languages in a multilingual approach are essential components of quality education, which is itself the foundation for empowering women and men and their societies. We must recognise and nurture this power, in order to leave no one behind, to craft a more just and sustainable future for all.


Learn Marathi - Online Book


2015 Theme

The theme for IMLD 2015 is

"Inclusion in and through education: Language counts".

http://en.unesco.org/events/international-mother-language-day-celebration-2015

Intiative B@bel

It promotes multilingualism on the Internet in order to make access to its contents and services more equitable for users worldwide.

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Mother Languages Around the World

Mother Languages - Aari to Adhola
Mother Languages - Adi to Ahtena
Mother Languages - Ai-cham to Akum

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Related Knols

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Original knol - http://knol.google.com/k/narayana-rao/international-mother-language-day-21/2utb2lsm2k7a/ 2176

World Thinking Day - 22 February

World Thinking Day, is celebrated annually on 22 February by all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. It is also celebrated by Scout and Guide organizations and some boy-oriented associations around the world. It is a day when they think about the meaning of "Guiding", and its global impact.

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts use these as an opportunity to study and appreciate other countries and cultures, and equally increase awareness and sensitivity on global concerns. Donations are collected for the Thinking Day Fund which supports projects to help Girl Guides and Scouts around the world.

22 February was chosen by the organization to commemorate  the birthday of Scouting and Guiding founder Robert Baden-Powell and of Olave Baden-Powell, his wife and World Chief Guide with a valuable activity.



2016

https://www.wagggs.org/en/resources/world-thinking-day-activity-pack-2016-connect/

This World Thinking Day, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides will explore and celebrate the connections that make life happier.


The different kinds of connections to be celebrating are:

Connect with me: 

If we don’t take the time to connect with ourselves and understand what we need to be happy and confident, we won’t be able to make the difference we want to make in other people’s lives.

Connect with friends: 

Connection is friendship and friendship is happiness. So what makes a good friend? Connect with someone you care about, make a new friend, and explore the relationships that matter to you.

Connect with the world: 

Look wider and see how you can make a difference in the places you care about. Get to know your community or a place in nature, then look wider still and connect with the amazing world of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.

Connect, share, and celebrate! 

Share your WTD 2016 adventure and connect with Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world.

http://www.girlscouts.org/en/about-girl-scouts/global/world-thinking-day.html
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Second Sunday of February - World Marriage Day

14 February 2016


8 February for 2015
http://www.cute-calendar.com/event/world-marriage-day/11392-world.html


Celebrate World Marriage Day
http://www.foryourmarriage.org/celebrate-world-marriage-day/



10 February for 2013

Purpose History
http://wmd.wwme.org/purpose-history.html

http://wmd.wwme.org/


http://www.flrl.org/WorldMarriageDay.htm

6 February - International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls. The practice also violates their rights to health, security and physical integrity, their right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and their right to life when the procedure results in death.

To promote the abandonment of FGM, coordinated and systematic efforts are needed, and they must engage whole communities and focus on human rights and gender equality. These efforts should emphasize societal dialogue and the empowerment of communities to act collectively to end the practice. They must also address the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls who suffer from its consequences.

UNFPA, jointly with UNICEF, leads the largest global programme to accelerate the abandonment of FGM. The programme currently focuses on 17 African countries and also supports regional and global initiatives.

Theme 2016 "Achieving the new Global Goals through the elimination of Female Genital Mutilation by 2030."

The 17 goals – known as the Sustainable Development Goals, or simply the Global Goals – aim to transform the world over the next 15 years. They build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals, global objectives adopted in 2000 that have helped to improve the lives of millions of people around the world.
UNFPA is working with governments, partners and other UN agencies to directly tackle many of these goals – in particular Goal 3 on health, Goal 4 on education and Goal 5 on gender equality – and contributes in a variety of ways to achieving many of the rest.

Key Facts:

Globally, it is estimated that at least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of FGM.
If current trends continue, 15 million additional girls between ages 15 and 19 be subjected to it by 2030.
Girls 14 and younger represent 44 million of those who have been cut, with the highest prevalence of FGM among this age in Gambia at 56 per cent, Mauritania 54 per cent and Indonesia where around half of girls aged 11 and younger have undergone the practice.
Countries with the highest prevalence among girls and women aged 15 to 49 are Somalia 98 per cent, Guinea 97 per cent and Djibouti 93 per cent.
FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15.
FGM cause severe bleeding and health issues including cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth increased risk of newborn deaths.
FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

http://www.un.org/en/events/femalegenitalmutilationday/