Indonesian Set for UNESCO General Conference Debut in Samarkand

Indonesia's common language heads to a global forum

Indonesian is set to make its first appearance in proceedings at UNESCO's 43rd General Conference in Samarkand, following its recognition as an official language of the conference on November 20, 2023. Indonesia's Education Minister Abdul Mu'ti is to deliver the national statement in Indonesian, bringing the language of more than 270 million people into a forum devoted to education, science, culture and communication.

The session is scheduled to open in Samarkand on November 11, 2025, with its closing days taking place later in the month at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. As of November 7, the conference and the speech are still ahead. The gathering links a Central Asian crossroads with the organization's institutional home, providing the setting for Indonesia to put the language's new status into practice.

Mu'ti's national statement connects international recognition with the language's role at home. Indonesia spans more than 17,000 islands, has some 700 local languages and includes more than 1,300 ethnic groups. A shared language allows people from those different communities to communicate, study and participate in national life while retaining their own local traditions.

The minister frames the occasion as an invitation to exchange knowledge across borders. His message places Indonesian within UNESCO's work of bringing countries together through learning and culture.

Today, the Indonesian language reaffirms its global presence as a bridge of knowledge among nations.

The planned debut turns a decision made in Paris in 2023 into a visible part of the next full General Conference. It also brings practical questions into focus: how a speech reaches listeners using other languages, which documents can be translated and how a shared national language can grow internationally without displacing languages spoken locally.

From the 2023 decision to the 2025 conference

UNESCO's General Conference adopted Resolution 42 C/28 at its 42nd session in Paris on November 20, 2023. The measure recognized Bahasa Indonesia as an official language of the General Conference. The decision appears in UNESCO's legal documentation, including the Third report of the Legal Committee and the associated text of UNESCO Resolution 42 C/28.

Indonesian brings the conference's roster of official languages to ten. The other nine are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Hindi, Italian and Portuguese. The recognition concerns the General Conference, UNESCO's highest decision making body, where member states consider the organization's direction and formal decisions.

The interval between recognition and the scheduled debut reflects the timing of the next full conference and the preparation needed to use the language within proceedings. Conference services need interpretation support, arrangements for producing documents and terminology resources. Indonesia's delegation has coordinated with the UNESCO Secretariat so that a national statement in Indonesian can be recorded and interpreted during the Samarkand session.

The key dates connect the language decision with the cultural tradition featured in Indonesia's statement:

• December 2020: UNESCO inscribed pantun on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
• November 20, 2023: The 42nd General Conference in Paris adopted Resolution 42 C/28, recognizing Indonesian as an official language of the conference.
• November 7, 2025: The forthcoming Samarkand session provides the setting for the planned first use of Indonesian in conference proceedings.
• November 11, 2025: The 43rd General Conference is scheduled to open in Samarkand.
• Later in November 2025: The conference's final days are scheduled at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Official languages and working languages serve different purposes

UNESCO's General Conference uses two language categories. Official languages are used for the translation of key conference documents, including resolutions, reports and meeting records. Working languages support debate and simultaneous interpretation during sessions. Simultaneous interpretation means listeners hear a spoken translation while a speaker continues talking.

The six working languages remain Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Indonesian joins the official language list, while the number of working languages stays at six. Its status opens access to formal documentation and allows statements in Indonesian to be reflected in the conference record.

A delegation speaking in a language outside the six working languages can provide an interpreter into one of those six. UNESCO's interpreters can then carry that interpretation into the other working languages. An Indonesian statement can therefore reach listeners through the conference's existing interpretation channels.

The arrangement connects formal recognition with practical participation. Indonesian can be heard on the floor, while the conference continues to organize its routine interpretation around the six working languages. For readers following the proceedings, the two categories explain both the language's new place in the conference and the services needed to make a speech accessible throughout the room.

A shared language across more than 17,000 islands

Bahasa Indonesia draws on the Malay language tradition and was formalized as Indonesia's national language in the early 20th century. Its role extends across local identities, creating a shared civic space from the cities of Java and Sumatra to villages in Sulawesi and Papua. The modern standard is taught nationwide and used in government, education and the media.

Indonesia's geography makes that common standard especially useful. Communities separated by islands and speaking different local languages can use Indonesian for daily communication and national policy. Local languages continue to carry community identity, literature and oral traditions. The relationship between a common national language and regional variety is a central part of the country's cultural life.

The Youth Pledge of 1928 anchored this development. Young activists declared one motherland, one nation and one language, Indonesian. Their choice linked the emerging nation to an accessible lingua franca, a language people with different mother tongues could use to understand one another.

Mohammad Tabrani was among the figures who advocated the name and concept of Bahasa Indonesia before independence. That advocacy helped prepare the way for its adoption when Indonesia's leaders proclaimed the republic in 1945. The language's international recognition now rests on a much longer history of building unity at home.

Indonesian has continued to change as the country has grown. Language authorities provide clear guidelines for incorporating loanwords, allowing terms from global science and technology to sit alongside established vocabulary. Its flexible use, relative ease of learning and deep literary history support its role as a living standard.

More than 270 million speakers and growing study abroad

Official estimates often place the wider Indonesian speaking community at more than 270 million people. Estimates vary according to how speakers are counted. The language is used every day by people who speak it as their first language and by those who learn it as a second language, making its reach much broader than a count of native speakers alone.

Indonesian is also studied in schools and universities on several continents. Government supported Bahasa Indonesia for Foreign Speakers programs provide courses and curricula in more than 50 countries. Estimates of learners outside the native speaking community vary, with figures often citing around 150,000 students worldwide.

Diplomatic missions, cultural centers and universities have added classes as interest expands in Southeast Asia and beyond. In neighboring Southeast Asian countries, Indonesian or closely related Malay is used in trade, education and media. That connection makes Indonesian a practical entry point into regional communication.

Indonesian officials also describe plans for a Department of Indonesian Language Studies at Al Azhar University in Egypt. Hundreds of students have already expressed interest. No opening date is given for the proposed department, which would provide another academic base for studying the language outside Indonesia.

Mohamad Oemar, Indonesia's Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, welcomed the General Conference's recognition. He linked the decision with access to information, appreciation of Indonesian literature and cooperation through UNESCO.

Recognizing Bahasa Indonesia as an official language at UNESCO supports inclusive information sharing and a richer appreciation of the language and its literature, while strengthening cooperation with UNESCO and advancing cultures, peace and sustainable development.

Pantun brings oral heritage into the statement

Mu'ti's national statement opens with pantun, a traditional verse form using four lines, distinctive rhyme and metaphor. The statement also thanks UNESCO and its member states for accepting Bahasa Indonesia as an official language of the General Conference on November 20, 2023.

UNESCO inscribed pantun on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2020. Intangible heritage refers to living practices and knowledge that communities recognize as part of their identity. UNESCO's system brings attention and support to traditions ranging from crafts and music to performing arts and rituals.

Pantun connects the language debut with an oral art practiced across communities. Choosing poetry to open a national statement gives the occasion a cultural dimension alongside its diplomatic purpose. Indonesian carries policy discussions, but it also carries teaching, memory and literary expression.

The connection is especially relevant to a conference concerned with culture as well as education and science. The language's formal place in proceedings and pantun's place on the heritage list bring two forms of recognition together in a single national statement.

Cultural officials call for confidence and language preservation

Restu Gunawan, Director of Cultural and Tradition Protection at Indonesia's Ministry of Culture, describes the UNESCO step as a source of pride. He urges Indonesians to use their national language confidently in daily life and international forums while continuing to protect local languages and learn foreign ones.

Gunawan's message assigns a place to each part of that multilingual life. Regional languages carry inherited values and community pride, Indonesian connects the country, and foreign languages help people communicate beyond it.

We must preserve regional languages, strengthen Indonesian, and master foreign languages. Regional languages carry traditional values and are symbols of regional pride.

Hafidz Muksin, Head of the Indonesian Language Agency, places the planned debut within a continuing program to introduce Indonesian internationally. He points to its position among the General Conference's ten official languages and links that achievement to its unifying role at home and expanding reach abroad.

This recognition marks a proud step for Indonesian as it stands among the official languages of the UNESCO General Conference, reinforcing our efforts to introduce the language to the world.

The two officials connect international visibility with continued work inside Indonesia. A language can gain recognition in a global institution while its speakers also maintain the regional languages through which families and communities pass on local knowledge.

What changes for documents and participation?

Official status allows General Conference documents and records to be produced in Indonesian. Resolutions, reports and formal minutes can become accessible to Indonesian readers without reliance on unofficial translations. For scholars, teachers and civil society groups following UNESCO's education, culture and science agenda, that access can make institutional decisions easier to follow.

Delegations also gain a formal setting for statements delivered in Indonesian, with interpretation connecting them to the working languages used during debate. The scheduled national statement in Samarkand demonstrates how the recognition can be used during conference proceedings, alongside its role in written documentation.

Conference services need qualified translators and interpreters, specialized glossaries and production arrangements that can keep pace with debate. A glossary gives translators agreed terms for subjects such as law, science or cultural preservation, helping different documents use the same vocabulary.

Indonesia has substantial pools of translators trained in law, science and culture. Collaboration with UNESCO can help align terminology and style with the organization's needs. The practical value of recognition depends on this continuing work, which connects a formal decision with documents and spoken exchanges that people can understand.

Routine use will shape Indonesian's wider reach

Indonesia's efforts to expand international study include teacher training for Bahasa Indonesia for Foreign Speakers programs, more digital learning materials and open corpora for linguists. A corpus is a collection of language examples that researchers and educators can study to understand how words and expressions are used.

Specialized vocabulary is another part of that work. Clear standards for terms in artificial intelligence, climate science and heritage conservation can support translators and educators working between languages at UNESCO and in universities. Familiar, consistent terminology makes complex subjects easier to discuss and teach.

Indonesia's language policy already encourages good use of Indonesian in public life. Campaigns supporting Indonesian terms in academia and technology can operate alongside multilingual habits that protect regional languages and support English or other international languages where needed.

The scheduled Samarkand appearance brings these efforts together: a language used to unite a diverse archipelago, a growing subject of study abroad and a newly recognized means of participating in UNESCO's General Conference. Its wider reach will develop through regular use in classrooms, documents and international exchanges while remaining connected to local literature and arts.

Key Points

• UNESCO recognized Indonesian as an official language of its General Conference on November 20, 2023, through Resolution 42 C/28.
• As of November 7, 2025, its first use in conference proceedings is expected at the forthcoming 43rd session in Samarkand, with a national statement by Education Minister Abdul Mu'ti.
• The conference is scheduled to open on November 11, with final days in Paris later that month.
• Indonesian is one of ten official languages. UNESCO's six working languages remain Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
• Official status supports Indonesian translations of conference documents and statements connected to working languages through interpretation.
• Official estimates often put the wider speaking community above 270 million, with courses in more than 50 countries and around 150,000 learners worldwide.
• Mu'ti's statement opens with pantun, inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in December 2020.
• Officials describe plans for an Indonesian language department at Al Azhar University in Egypt, where hundreds of students have expressed interest.
• Indonesian cultural and language officials link international recognition with preserving regional languages and expanding language education.