The Indonesian language was successfully established as the official language at the General Conference on the Organization of Education, Scientific, and Culture of the United Nations or UNESCO. The decision was determined at the Headquarters of UNESCO Paris, France, on Monday (11/20).
The Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to France-Andorra-Monako, Mohamad Oemar, stated that the determination made Indonesian the 10th official language recognized by the UNESCO General Conference. The other nine languages that are recognized are English, Arabic, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Russia, Hindi, Italy, and Portuguese.
“Indonesian has become a unifying force since the pre-independence period, especially through the Youth Pledge in 1928, so as to be able to connect various ethnic groups in Indonesia,” Oemar said.
The determination was marked by the adoption of a resolution of 42 C/28 consensus in the Plenary Session of the 42nd General Conference of UNESCO. Oemar mentioned that Indonesian, with more than 275 million speakers, was worldwide with the inclusion of the Indonesian language curriculum in 52 countries. And at present, there are at least 150 thousand foreign speakers who are active in Indonesian.
“Indonesia’s active leadership at the global level began since the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955, which became the seeds of the formation of non-alignment groups. Indonesia has a strong commitment to continue leadership and positive contribution to the international world,” he said.
This contribution, he continued, was marked by collaboration with other countries in overcoming global challenges, through the role of Indonesia’s agriculture in the G20 forum in 2022 and ASEAN in 2023. He also emphasized that this recognition could increase awareness of Indonesian, as well as part of global efforts to develop inter -nation connectivity, strengthen cooperation with UNESCO, and part of Indonesia’s commitment to cultural development at the international level.
“Recognition of Indonesian as the official language of the UNESCO General Conference will have a positive impact on peace, harmony, and achievement of sustainable development goals not only at the national level, but also throughout the world,” he said.
The efforts of the Indonesian government to propose Indonesian as the official language of the UNESCO General Conference are one of the implementations of the mandate of Article 44 paragraph (1) of Law Number 24 of 2009 concerning the State Flag, Language, and Symbols, as well as the national anthem, which reads, “The government increases The function of Indonesian becomes an international language gradually, systematically, and sustainable. “
This proposal is also an effort of De Jure (based on law) so that the Indonesian language gets the official language status of an international institution, after de facto (based on facts), the Indonesian government has built Indonesian foreign speakers in 52 countries.
November 21, 2023, detikNews
(https://news.detik.com/berita/d-7047894/bahasa-indonesia-ditetapkan-jadi-bahasa-resmi-konferensi-umum-unesco)