Indonesian Designated as UNESCO's 10th Official Language? This is the explanation!

Indonesian has been successfully recognized and designated as an Official Language by the General Conference of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Indonesian is ranked 10th as an Official Language of UNESCO, in addition to nine other official UN languages. These include English, Arabic, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Hindi and Italian.

The decision was made by UNESCO, through the adoption of Resolution 42 C/28, in the Plenary session of the 42nd General Conference of UNESCO on Monday (20/11/2023) in Paris, Prascis, which is the UNESCO Headquarters.

Initially, the establishment of Indonesian as an official language, from discussions held in January 2023, between the Indonesian Ambassador to France and the Indonesian Permanent Delegation or (Wadetap), to UNESCO. Until then, they recognized the potential for Indonesian to become an official language at the UNESCO General Assembly. And from this potential, it was then conveyed to the Head of the Language Development and Development Agency, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemdikbudristek).

"Indonesian has been the unifying force of the nation since the pre-independence period. Especially through the Youth Pledge event in 1928," said Ambassador Mohammad Oemar, as the Indonesian Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, as quoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' official website, on Monday (20/11).

Furthermore, Ambassador Oemar also emphasized that raising awareness of the Indonesian language is one part of Global Indonesia's efforts to develop connectivity between nations, as well as strengthen cooperation with UNESCO. In addition, this is also part of Indonesia's own commitment to cultural development at the international level.  

And at the end of his speech, Ambassador Oemar reiterated that the recognition of Indonesian as an official language at the UNESCO General Conference, in the future, will have a positive impact on peace, harmony and the achievement of sustainable development goals, not only at the national level, but also throughout the world.

Thus, Indonesian means that it can be used as the language of the session and General Conference documents, which can be translated into Indonesian. Launching from CNN Indonesia, on (21/11), in fact, according to Hikmahanto Juwana, a Professor of International Law from the University, considered that Indonesian could be used in UNESCO meetings in the future.

According to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, currently Indonesian has been used by more than 275 million speakers in the world. In addition, Indonesian has also been included as a curriculum in 52 countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also noted that until now there are at least 150,000 foreign speakers who speak Indonesian.

Basically, the Indonesian Government's efforts to propose Indonesian to be the official language is one of the implementations of the mandate of Article 44 paragraph (1), Law number 24 of 2009 concerning Flags, Languages, and State Emblems, as well as National Songs. Which reads: "The government increases the function of Indonesian to become an international language gradually, systematically, and sustainably".

Reference:

Setkab.go.id (21/11/23).

Kemlu.go.id (20/11/23).

CNN Indonesia (21/11/23).

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