Students, authorities, civil society and international community representatives, and journalists discussed the use of the Arabic Language at the UN during a first ever observation of the Arabic Language Day in Armenia. The event was organized by the UN Department of Public Information (UNDPI) jointly with the Embassies of Egypt, Lebanon and Syria and with students of the Yerevan State University, Russian-Armenian University and Syrian Arabic Union. The UN officials, representatives of the Embassies of Egypt, Lebanon and Syria spoke about the importance of the Arabic language for the UN and the usage of Arabic language, culture and music in Armenia. UN Department of Public Information Representative, Maria Dotsenko said: “It is my pleasure to see so many young bright people in the UN House today. It is important that Armenians are learning Arabic, which will help them to open the borders to the Arabic world, will help them to be citizens of the world. Arabic is the key to understanding the Arabs, their culture, and their literature. It is considered the bond that unifies over 200 million native Arabic speakers residing in 22 countries that have declared Arabic as their official language.” The audience enjoyed some Arabicdances, music, theatrical performance, poetry and tasted Arabic traditional food. The students from theYerevan State Universitymade presentations on: “Arabic Language in the World and in Armenia”, as well as on the Arabic language version of the UN (www.un.org) website. Arabic Language Day at the UN is celebrated on 18 December, the date on which the United Nations General Assembly designated Arabic as the sixth official language of the United Nations in 1973. Starting in 2010, the United Nations Department of Public Information in New York has announced the launch of “Language Days at the United Nations”, a new initiative which seeks to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity. The UNDPI Yerevan Office is marking days of all official languages of the UN throughout 2011.

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