March 23, 2026
The Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University hosted the World Poetry Day, dedicated to poetry for children
On March 20, 2026, the UNESCO Chair of the Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University together with the preparatory department of the University, held the international event World Poetry Day, which brought together representatives of countries in Africa, Asia and Central America, such as China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Togo, Benin, Turkmenistan and Panama.
On March 20, 2026, the UNESCO Chair of Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I.N. Ulyanov (UlGPU), together with the preparatory department of the University, held the international event World Poetry Day, which brought together representatives of countries in Africa, Asia and Central America, such as China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Togo, Benin, Turkmenistan and Panama.
World Poetry Day was first introduced on March 21, 1999, at the 30th UNESCO General Conference in Paris. The purpose of the event is to promote linguistic diversity through poetry so that every language can be heard.
The theme of the event is the poetry for children, and it was not chosen by chance.
The event was organized as part of the celebration of the 120th anniversary of Agniya Barto's birth and in connection with the declaration of 2026 as the Year of Preschool Education, made by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
The guests were able to listen to poems by authors of children's world literature in Russian and in national languages, interpreted by both the youngest and adult participants, enjoy musical compositions performed by Yang Zing, a professor from China, and attend to presentations by 5th-year students of the French Department of the Faculty of Foreign Languages about Russian authors for children.
Participants from Ethiopia, Djibouti and Togo presented poems of their own composition in their native languages.
Dr. Farahan Jemal from Ethiopia (Jimma University), who wrote the poem "Children of One World" specially for Poetry Day, noted: "The main message of my poem is about unity, love, peace and gratitude of all people on earth. [...] Despite the fact that we are from different countries, different cultures and backgrounds, we are all children of the same world. Therefore, we must live together with kindness, respect and understanding."
In total, more than 70 people took part in the event, 36 of whom were foreign participants.