In 2016, t
he United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages, based on a recommendation by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
At the time, the Forum said that 40 per cent of the estimated 6,700 languages spoken around the world were in danger of disappearing. The fact that most of these are indigenous languages puts the cultures and knowledge systems to which they belong at risk.
In addition, indigenous peoples are often isolated both politically and socially in the countries they live in, by the geographical location of their communities, their separate histories, cultures, languages and traditions.
Celebrating IYIL2019 will help promote and protect indigenous languages and improve the lives of those who speak them. It will contribute to achieving the objectives set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.
Our Group is a proud supporter of this cause through our a non-for-profit division, South Pacific Institute of Communication and Languages (SPICL). If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to promote indigenous culture and languages please write to Denis Petrov (denis@tcl-group.com.au).
(The logos above are reproduced only for information purposes and are the property of the United Nations and UNESCO as the UN lead agency for the organization of the International Year, owns all rights thereto, including the right to giving or withdrawing permission in terms of their use.)