TANZANIA : THE Minister for Culture, Arts and Sports, Dr Damas Ndumbaro has reiterated Tanzania’s ambitious plan to promote Kiswahili globally, and most importantly as one of the official languages in the United Nations.
Thus, he called upon China as one of Tanzania’s noble partners to support the country’s bold endeavour to promote the language in China and the United Nations.
Dr Ndumbaro disclosed this during a concert organised by the Chinese community in Tanzania to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Mid-Autumn Festival which took place at the SuperDome in Dar es Salaam on Friday evening.
“Language is one of the most important aspects of culture, whereby Tanzania has its Kiswahili which is the country’s national language but is also used by other 13 countries and an international language used by the East African Community, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and in the Great Lakes Region.
“Our mission is to take Kiswahili to China, globally and most importantly to take the language to the United Nations,” said Dr Ndumbaro.
He noted that Tanzania is confident that China, as a global powerhouse and most trusted friend of the country, will assist in taking Kiswahili to the UN.
According to him, the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative is an important engagement to both Tanzania and China.
“My presence here today is proof of the strong ties that exist between the two countries. Tanzania and China have been cooperating in various areas but relevant to this includes culture, arts and sports.
“Through joint cooperation established by the two countries way back, various programmes in the above areas including capacity building among many others have been undertaken,” he noted.
He added: “We still need to cooperate more, particularly in areas of infrastructure for culture, arts and sports and more will be done to ensure that Tanzania and China also have cooperation in the area.”
Reports indicate that Kiswahili is considered as the 10th most spoken language which is spoken by over 200 million people globally.
Tanzania, as the birth place of Kiswahili language, takes pride in the landmark decision by the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) of November 23, 2020 to designate July 7 as the World Kiswahili Language Day.
The Chinese event was also honoured by the presence of Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Chen Mingjian and other dignitaries.