Kofi Annan, the former first black African man, and the 8th General Secretary of the United Nations was on Saturday pronounced dead at the age of 80, following a short illness as reported by the official UN website in all the 6 United Nations Official Languages.
The peace Nobel prize winner served graciously for 2 terms from 1997 to the year 2006 and his reign was praised for diligence and servant hood especially followed by his stint as the UN’s convoy to Syria in a bid to bring an end to the relentless wars.
Breaking news travels faster with the 6 United Nations Official Languages
Like other breaking News that affect the world in one or another, just like Kofi Annan’s death touched us because the UN is present in almost all countries of the world especially in parts ridden with natural disasters, poverty, sickness ad war, the News is spread much faster and further when broken in a number of languages.
One may argue that social media and the general development in technology should be credited for faster distribution and consuming of News. This is true to some extent but is a factor like other factors to cause News to travel faster.
Having something put out there in various languages aids its fast movement because people get to read, watch or hear the News in the language they understand most. For example, on the United Nations official page, one has an option of clicking on their language of choice option.
It should be noted that 3 of the 6 United Nations official languages are widely spoken in Africa as official, first, second languages or as lingua franca. For example, Arabic is a major language in North African states like Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan although it comes in different variations depending on where one is and is also spoken to some extent by so many Muslims in all parts of Africa.
English on the other hand is spoken by almost all former British colonies on the African continent and other countries that simply adapted to it and took it on which include; Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Zambia, Namibia and Rwanda. It should be noted that the latter country took on English in after supposedly getting frustrated by the French language in a bid to strengthen ties with her English speaking countries in 2009.
Chinese is offered as a special course for the interested few to learn especially at tertiary levels and language institutions. There is likely a bright future for the Chinese language in Africa because of China’s increased interest on the continent.
Other influential languages in Africa
All in all effective communication is key to the smooth running of things in the world today and availing News in languages people understand best is key to achieving effective global communication. While the United Nations and a few other entities have put this in place, more especially on the business world need to follow for its success and professional translation services is one way to look at it.
By Angela Kyolaba
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