The Montevideo Resolution is the common name for Resolution IV.4.422-4224, passed in Montevideo

Montevideo

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...

, Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 on December 10, 1954 by the General Conference of UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

. The resolution was in support of Esperanto

Esperanto

is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...

, an alternate international language

International language

International language may refer to:* Love* Music* Mathematics* International auxiliary language - a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...

, and recommended that the Director-General of UNESCO

Director-general

The term director-general is a title given the highest executive officer within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector or not-for-profit institution.-European Union:...

 follow the evolution in the use of the language. In 1977, the Director-General visited the Universal Congress of Esperanto in Reykjavík

Reykjavík

Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...

, Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 and in 1985, UNESCO passed a further resolution recommending that member countries encourage the teaching of Esperanto. The 1954 resolution was the result of a long campaign by Ivo Lapenna

Ivo Lapenna

Ivo Lapenna was a Jugoslav Professor of Law, Esperanto speaker, and President of the World Esperanto Association...

.

Text of the Resolution

General Conference of Unesco. Eight session. Montevideo (Uruguay), 1954.
Resolution adopted on December 10th, 1954, in the eighteenth plenary-meeting.

• IV.1.4.422 - The General Conference,

Having discussed the report of the Director-General on the international petition in favour of Esperanto (8C/PRG/3),

• IV.1.4.4221 - Takes note of the results attained by Esperanto in the field of international intellectual relations and the rapprochement of the peoples of the world ;

• IV.1.4.4222 - Recognizes that these results correspond with the aims and ideals of Unesco ;

• IV.1.4.4223 - Takes note that several Member States have announced their readiness to introduce or expand the teaching of Esperanto in their schools and higher educational establishments, and requests these Member States to keep the Director-General informed of the results attained in this field ;

• IV.1.4.4224 - Authorizes the Director-General to follow current developments in the use of Esperanto in education, science and culture, and, to this end, to co-operate with the Universal Esperanto Association in matters concerning both organizations.

External links

• More information