The Kingdom celebrated yesterday the International Day of the Arabic Language for the year 2021 in a virtual ceremony held at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the French capital, Paris.

The opening speech was attended by HRH Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to UNESCO, Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz bin Muhammad bin Ayyaf Al Muqrin, along with the Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences Sector at UNESCO, Gabriela Ramos, and the Director-General of the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Charitable Foundation, Saleh Al-Khulaifi.

In her speech at the beginning of the ceremony, HRH Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz explained the efforts made by the Kingdom towards the Arabic language locally, regionally and internationally, and listed pioneering Saudi projects in this context, such as the project of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Center for Planning and Language Policies, the Arabic blog, and the interactive computer lexicon. And the unified Arab index implemented by the King Abdulaziz Library. Leading to the establishment of the King Salman International Complex for the Arabic Language, which culminates the great Saudi efforts in serving one of the most important living global languages. Her Highness thanked the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Charitable Foundation for its continuous support to serve the Arabic language through the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Program for Supporting the Arabic Language at UNESCO, which recently contributed to supporting the Arabic chapter in the UNESCO World Atlas of Languages.

HRH also gave thanks to the King Salman International Complex for the Arabic Language for its efforts in organizing the celebration of the International Day of the Arabic Language for this year.

The ceremony program included cultural sessions and seminars that were held virtually with the wide participation of local, Arab and international cultural leaders, in addition to holding three discussion sessions to talk about Arabic language affairs, the Arabic translation movement and civilized communication, as well as the linguistic influence and influence of visual arts such as architectural and plastic arts and their relationship to the Arabic language.

On the sidelines of the celebration, an art exhibition entitled “Arabic Language and Civilization Communication” was organized, which will continue until December 23, with the participation of artists from the Kingdom and from all over the world, whose works revolve around highlighting the relationship between the Arabic language and various forms of cultural expression and it was displayed on the walls surrounding UNESCO.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s celebration of the International Day of the Arabic Language at UNESCO headquarters comes with the combined efforts of the Ministry of Culture, the Kingdom’s permanent delegation to UNESCO, the National Committee for Education, Culture and Science and the Sultan bin Abdulaziz Charitable Foundation, in addition to the King Salman International Complex for the Arabic Language, highlighting the Kingdom’s efforts in serving the Arabic language. The Arabic language and its support locally, regionally and internationally, and the strengthening of its presence in international organizations, which contributes to enhancing human rapprochement between nations.