UN launches 10-year survival plan for endangered indigenous languages

On Friday, the UN launched the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to help them survive and protect them from extinction.

The organization has long advocated for indigenous peoples, who are the heirs and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of treating people and the environment.

A win for everyone

Preserving their languages ​​is not only important for them, but for all of humanity, said the President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi.

“With every indigenous language that dies out, so does the thought: the culture, tradition and knowledge that carries it. This is important because we desperately need a radical change in the way we interact with our environment,” he said said.

Indigenous peoples make up less than six percent of the world’s population but speak more than 4,000 of the world’s approximately 6,700 languages, corresponding the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

Alarm bells are ringing

However, conservative estimates assume that more than half of all languages ​​will become extinct by the end of this century.

Mr. Kőrösi recently returned from the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal and abandoned the belief that “if we are to be successful in protecting nature, we must listen to indigenous peoples, and we must do so in their own language.”

Indigenous peoples are custodians of nearly 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, he said, citing data from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“Yet An indigenous language goes extinct every two weeks‘ he remarked. “That should give us an alarm.”

The President of the General Assembly urged countries to work with indigenous communities to protect their rights, such as access to education and resources in their native language, and to ensure that they and their knowledge are not exploited.

“And perhaps most importantly, to meaningfully consult with indigenous peoples, to engage with them at every stage of the decision-making process,” he guessed.

More than words

During the launch, tribal people and UN ambassadors – sometimes one and the same – spoke out for protection and preservation.

Language is more than just words, said Mexican Ambassador Juan Ramón de la Fuente on behalf of the 22-member Friends of Indigenous Peoples group.

“It is the essence of the identity of its speakers and the collective soul of its peoples. Languages ​​embody people’s history, culture and traditions, and they are dying at an alarming rate,” he warned.

Cultural identity and wisdom

Leonor Zalabata Torres, an Arhuaco woman and Colombia’s Ambassador to the UN, received applause for her address, which was partly delivered in Ika, one of 65 indigenous languages ​​spoken in her home country.

“Language is the expression of wisdom and cultural identity and the tool that gives meaning to our daily reality that we inherited from our ancestors,” she said, switching to Spanish.

“Unfortunately, linguistic diversity is at risk and this has been caused by the dramatic decline in use and accelerated replacement of indigenous languages ​​by the languages ​​of majority societies.”

Ms. Zalabata Torres reported that the Colombian government has underlined its commitment to the implementation of the 10-year plan for indigenous languages, which focuses on pillars such as empowerment, recognition, documentation and revitalization.

language and self-determination

For the indigenous communities of the Arctic, language is critical to political, economic, social, cultural and spiritual rights, MP Aluki Kotierk said.

“Indeed, every time an indigenous person utters a word in an indigenous language, it is an act of self-determination,” she added.

However, Ms Kotierk said native languages ​​and dialects “are at different levels of vitality”.

She envisions a time when Arctic indigenous people “can stand taller with dignity in their own homes, knowing they can function in their own language in all aspects of their lives and receive basic public services in health, justice and education be able .”

Ms. Mariam Wallet Med Aboubakrine, representative of the indigenous peoples of the socio-cultural region of Africa, addresses the UN General Assembly at the opening of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

On the way to linguistic justice

Mariam Wallet Med Aboubakrine, a doctor from Mali, works for the indigenous peoples of Africa, especially the Tuareg.

She called on countries to “provide linguistic and cultural justice to indigenous peoples,” which will only contribute to reconciliation and lasting peace.

She expressed hope that the International Decade would culminate in the adoption of a UN convention “so that every indigenous woman can cuddle and comfort her baby in her language; every indigenous child can play in their own language; every young person and adult can express themselves and work safely in their language, including in digital spaces, and to ensure that all older people can share their experiences in their language.”