UN / INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES DECADE

STORY: UN / INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES DECADE
TRT: 02:22
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 16 DECEMBER 2022, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters

16 DECEMBER 2022, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Csaba Kőrösi, President, 77th session, General Assembly:
“Every two weeks an indigenous language dies. This should ring our alarms, because as said by the American linguist Michael Krauss, when a language goes extinct, it's like dropping a bomb on the Louvre.”
4. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Csaba Kőrösi, President, 77th session, General Assembly:
“I call upon Member States to work with indigenous communities to first, safeguard indigenous people’s rights, like access to education and resources in their native tongues. Second, ensure that indigenous peoples and their knowledge are not exploited and secure their free prior and informed consent when harnessing their knowledge or languages. Third, and perhaps the most importantly, meaningfully consult indigenous peoples engaging with them in every stage of decision-making processes.”
5. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mexico:
“Indigenous peoples account for approximately 5 percent of the global population and speak 60 percent of the world's estimated 7,000 languages. Each indigenous language represents a unique framework for understanding the world and its complexity, and each is a repository of traditional knowledge. Language is more than just words. It is the essence of the identity of its speakers and the collective soul of its peoples. Languages embody the history, the culture and the traditions of people, and they are dying at an alarming rate.”
7. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall

STORYLINE:

The General Assembly (GA) today (16 Dec) launched the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

GA President Csaba Kőrösi convened a high-level event for the launch. In his opening remarks he said, “every two weeks an indigenous language dies,” adding that “this should ring our alarms.”

Kőrösi quoted American linguist Michael Krauss and said, “when a language goes extinct, it's like dropping a bomb on the Louvre.”

He called on Member States to work with indigenous communities on three specific actions:

1. Safeguard indigenous peoples’ rights – such as to education in their native tongues.

2. Ensure that indigenous peoples and their knowledge are not exploited, and secure their free, prior, and informed consent when harnessing their knowledge or languages.

3. And to consult indigenous peoples, engaging with them in every stage of decision-making processes.

Mexico’s Ambassador Juan Ramón de la Fuente, speaking on behalf of Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples, said, “indigenous peoples account for approximately 5 percent of the global population and speak 60 percent of the world's estimated 7,000 languages. Each indigenous language represents a unique framework for understanding the world and its complexity, and each is a repository of traditional knowledge. Language is more than just words. It is the essence of the identity of its speakers and the collective soul of its peoples. Languages embody the history, the culture and the traditions of people, and they are dying at an alarming rate.”

The International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032 aims to draw attention to the critical loss of Indigenous languages, and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote them, and to take urgent steps at national and international levels.

UNESCO, in cooperation with the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), established a Global Task Force for Making a Decade of Action for Indigenous Languages to ensure equitable participation of all stakeholders in the organization of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages and provide guidance on its organization.