Multilingualism

A/RES/59/309View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 156 Multilingualism, published in 2005.

What other versions does this mandate have?

15 versions · 1995–2026

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2026).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2026	A/RES/80/310	Multilingualism	2,957	—Compare
2024	A/RES/78/330	Multilingualism	5,746	—Compare
2022	A/RES/76/268	Multilingualism	5,988	—Compare
2019	A/RES/73/346	Multilingualism	5,432	—Compare
2017	A/RES/71/328	Multilingualism	4,417	—Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

11 reports · 2003–2026

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2026	A/80/668	Multilingualism report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/330
2024	A/78/790	Multilingualism report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/268
2021	A/75/798	Multilingualism report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/73/346
2019	A/73/761	Multilingualism report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/71/328
2017	A/71/757	Multilingualism report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/69/324

What’s in this document?

17 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General³ and the report of the Joint Inspection Unit;⁴

³A/58/363.

⁴See A/58/93.

Also takes note of the appointment of a new coordinator for multilingualism;

Underlines the need for full implementation of the resolutions establishing language arrangements for the official languages of the United Nations and the working languages of the Secretariat;

Emphasizes the paramount importance of the equality of the six official languages of the United Nations;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to ensure, through the provision of documentation services and meeting and publishing services under conference management, including high-quality translation and interpretation, effective multilingual communication among representatives of Member States in intergovernmental organs and members of expert bodies of the United Nations equally in all the official languages of the United Nations;

Notes with satisfaction the willingness of the Secretariat to encourage staff members, in formal meetings with interpretation services, to use any of the six official languages of which they have a command;

Recalls its resolution 59/266, in which it reaffirmed the need to respect the equality of each of the two working languages of the Secretariat, reaffirms the use of additional working languages in specific duty stations as mandated, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to ensure that vacancy announcements specify the need for either of the working languages of the Secretariat, unless the functions of the post require a specific working language;

Also recalls that in its resolution 59/266 it requested the Secretary-General to continue to take the steps necessary to ensure that the Galaxy e-staffing system was available in both of the working languages of the Organization;

Encourages United Nations staff members to continue to use actively existing training facilities to acquire and enhance their proficiency in one or more of the official languages of the United Nations;

Recalls its resolution 59/265, in which it reaffirmed the provisions relating to conference services of its resolutions on multilingualism;

Also recalls its resolution 59/126 B, and emphasizes the importance of multilingualism in United Nations public relations and information activities;

Reaffirms the need to achieve full parity among the six official languages on the United Nations website;

Takes note with appreciation of the work done by the United Nations information centres, including the regional United Nations information centres, in favour of the publication of United Nations information materials and the translation of important documents into languages other than the official languages of the United Nations, with a view to reaching the widest possible spectrum of audiences and extending the United Nations message to all the corners of the world in order to strengthen international support for the activities of the Organization;

Welcomes the decision by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 17 November 1999 that 21 February should be proclaimed “International Mother Language Day”, and calls upon Member States and the Secretariat to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to it at its sixty-first session on the measures that can be taken by international organizations within the United Nations system in order to strengthen the protection, promotion and preservation of all languages, in particular languages spoken by persons belonging to linguistic minorities and languages facing extinction;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to it at its sixty-first session a comprehensive report on the implementation of its resolutions on multilingualism, including the implications of the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-first session the item entitled “Multilingualism”.

Multilingualism

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

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