In New York, in a glass booth overlooking the General Assembly hall, an interpreter is at work in the middle of a session running late into the night. She renders into Spanish a text that the delegation she serves received only in English the evening before. The language in which a decision is explained decides who understands it and who applies it. The Organization works in six official languages in a world that speaks thousands, and President Macky Sall has made multilingualism one of the governing principles of his candidacy for the office of UN Secretary-General.

Six languages for 193 states. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the official languages of the United Nations. In practice, a growing share of documents and meetings circulates only in English, which leaves behind the delegations and publics that work in the others.

A question of equality among states. A delegation that receives a text in a language it handles poorly negotiates from weakness. Multilingualism guarantees that each state carries equal weight in deliberation, whatever the language of its diplomats.

Informing the public. The United Nations addresses citizens as much as diplomats, and information published in a language foreign to those it concerns remains a dead letter. For that reason, this candidacy publishes its positions in six languages.

The Secretary-General's role. The General Assembly has entrusted him with the custody of the Organization's multilingualism. It falls to him to see that texts appear on the same day in the six official languages, and that the Organization's websites as well as its press briefings and statements can be read in each of them. A coordinator for multilingualism, appointed within the Secretariat, reports on that work to the General Assembly.

Equality at the negotiating table. Twelve years as head of state and the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022 underpin this demand for equality among delegations. The same experience explains why the vision statement filed with the United Nations frames its proposals as obligations: peace, security and development conceived together; a renewed multilateralism; stronger governance of the Organization.

Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.

The General Assembly's resolutions on multilingualism are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net