In an effort to promote cultural exchange and mutual learning among civilizations, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa celebrated Spanish Language Day on April 26 at the Commission’s headquarters in Addis Ababa. The pomp and fanfare event offered a variety of spaces in which interaction was encouraged to ask and learn about the rich Hispanic culture, language, and the importance of multilingualism to preserve linguistic and cultural traditions while also fostering harmony and peace.
Hosted by the nine Spanish-speaking countries that have missions in Addis Ababa namely, Argentina, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela, the event highlighted the positive role of the Spanish language in promoting cultural exchange and people-to-people connections.
Acting Secretary Antonio Pedro opened the ceremony with ambassadors Crisantos Obama Ondo (Equatorial Guinea), Jorge Lefebre Nicolás (Cuba), and Victor Treviño (Mexico) thanking all present for their continued support of multilingualism. Quoting Nelson Mandela in his opening remarks ‘If you speak to a man in a language he understands, the message reaches his head. If you speak to him in his language, it reaches his heart”, the acting ES did the same with some lines of his speech in Spanish. A move that resonated with the guests and was re-echoed by the ambassador of Equatorial Guinea.
The Acting ES underscored the important role of the Spanish language in international cooperation, the UN and ECA have been offering Spanish language courses to staff members and diplomatic personnel for several years.
“Spanish is not only the language spoken in Spain and in the Hispanic countries of Africa and Latin America but is also the mother tongue of more than 496 million people spread across almost all the world’s continents,” said Antonio Pedro, Acting ES ECA.
He saluted the tireless efforts of the Ambassador and Head of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa, Crisantos Obama Ondo, who for several years has been striving to make Spanish one of the official languages of the African Union.
“The recent adoption of Spanish as an official language of the African Union can help open new opportunities and expectations of expanding the Spanish language on the continent and to improve commercial and diplomatic relations with the rest of the world’ said Ambassador Crisantos Obama Ondo of Equatorial Guinea.
He further added, in Africa, there is an increasing demand for Spanish studies in countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon, Angola, Mozambique, Tunisia, and Ivory Coast. There are currently about 10 million people that speak Spanish in Africa as their first or second language.
The UN Day of the Spanish Language is celebrated every April 23 in tribute to writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, who died on April 23, 1816.
Source: ECA
