The United Nations has declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IY2019) to help preserve indigenous languages and safeguard the rights of those who speak them. According to the IY2019 website,
“Languages play a crucial role in the daily lives of people, not only as a tool for communication, education, social integration and development, but also as a repository for each person’s unique identify, cultural history, traditions and memory. But despite their immense value, languages around the world continue to disappear at an alarming rate. With this in mind, the United Nations declared 2019 the Year of Indigenous Languages (IY2019) in order to raise awareness of them, not only to benefit the people who speak these languages, but also for others to appreciate the important contribution they make to our world’s rich cultural diversity.”
The International Year of Indigenous Languages aims to focus on five key areas
- Increasing understanding, reconciliation and international cooperation.
- Creation of favorable conditions for knowledge-sharing and dissemination of good practices with regards to indigenous languages.
- Integration of indigenous languages into standard setting.
- Empowerment through capacity building.
- Growth and development through elaboration of new knowledge.
There are many ways that people can get involved in IY2019, such as
You can also:
- Develop a project
- Create and maintain a community
- Share new content
- Suggest tools and solutions
- Develop and share a story (share news items)
- Look and establish partnerships
- Run webinars
- Offer training (share information and content)
- Publish your research
- Provide financial support
The IY2019 website allows individual and organizations to sign up to get involved here.