Building on our Rich Heritage - unesdoc - Unesco

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FOREWORD
The designation by the United Nations General Assembly of 2008 as International Year of
Languages, for which UNESCO was lead agency, demonstrated the increasing recognition of the
importance of languages in achieving the internationally agreed development goals, in building inclusive
knowledge societies and maintaining a culturally diverse world. Or, as the slogan for the
International Year put it: ‘Languages Matter!’
Through language people build, understand and express their emotions, intentions and
values; confirm social relations; and transmit cultural and social expressions and practices. Thus, language
is a determining factor of cultural identity for diverse groups and individuals. It is an inherent
part of who we are.
UNESCO’s Member States have repeatedly made the important connection between linguistic
diversity and cultural diversity and the role they play in promoting sustainable development. This
is evident in the legal instruments underpinning UNESCO’s strategy to safeguard cultural diversity.
Principal among these are the 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education, the 2001 UNES-
CO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and its action plan, the 2003 Convention for the
Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the 2003 Recommendation concerning the Promotion
and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace, and the 2005 Convention on the
Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Globalization processes are having a palpable impact on the use, knowledge and preservation
of languages. On the one hand, globalization has the potential to revitalize languages and foster their
use in society by:
• connecting institutions around the world that are working with endangered language communities`
to promote the revitalization, maintenance, and perpetuation of their languages;
• providing access to information and communication resources that can be utilised to assist
communities in preserving their linguistic diversity;
• connecting endangered language communities from various regions of the world so as to
raise awareness, increase advocacy efforts, and share best practises.
But globalization also harbours the risk of greater uniformity, which endangers languages,
particularly when emphasis is placed on acquiring the main international languages at the expense
of regional and local languages, especially in education systems, the media and public life in general.
Given current trends, experts estimate that within a few generations, more than 50 percent of
the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today may disappear. The consequences of this
would be tragic.