IYIL 2019 Action Plan

Protecting and Promoting Indigenous Knowledge

According to the recent report issued by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, around 40% of the languages of the world are classified as endangered languages. A language is a way to preserve and communicate history, unique models of thinking, and other forms of indigenous knowledge. More importantly, people use language to construct their future. UNESCO´s International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL) is a global initiative to raise awareness of the critical risks threatening indigenous languages and indigenous knowledge systems.

IYIL2019 initiative seeks to support, access and promote indigenous knowledge:

• Support focuses on improving the everyday use of indigenous languages, and indigenous knowledge.
• Access preserves indigenous languages as well as furthering education, knowledge and information about indigenous people.
• Promotion aims for mainstreaming the indigenous knowledge, as well as providing enhanced access and empowerment for indigenous speakers. This objective is reached by applying language, communication, and information technologies alongside cultural practices such as games and sports.

The action plan is a list of events, meetings, and conferences which will be scheduled under the sponsorship of International Year.

Source: Note by the UN Secretariat

UNESCO Action Plan for IYIL 2019

In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages, based on a recommendation of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

IYIL2019 will 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.

UNESCO worked with governments, indigenous peoples’ organizations, researchers and other stakeholders to establish an action plan which sets out the path to achieving the objectives of the International Year.

This multi-stakeholder partnership is made up of a Steering Committee to oversee implementation, ad hoc groups to provide relevant advice, and contributing partners.

The action plan lays out the key measurable objectives, principles, and actions for this year and beyond.

source IYIL 2019 website

5 main areas of intervention 2018–2020

1. Increasing understanding, reconciliation and international cooperation

2. Creating favorable conditions for indigenous knowledge-sharing,

and dissemination of good practices with regard to indigenous languages

3. Integrating indigenous languages into standardization

4. Empowerment through capacity-building

5. Growth and development through elaboration of new knowledge

source IYIL 2019 website

UNESCO Themes for Protecting Languages of the World

The seven themes of the International Year, launched by UNESCO in a call for Research Papers, are listed below. These would also be the themes for any exercises or discussions in the upcoming October 2019 University Events:

1. Humanitarian affairs, peace-building and national development plans (e.g. during and post-conflict period, radicalization and other; assimilation, mapping and revitalization policies related to languages);

2. Indigenous education and life-long learning;

3. Indigenous knowledge in science and health (including interventions for epidemic or pandemic diseases; activism for climate change; water, bioethics and other);

4. Gender equality (e.g. reproductive health education policies, role of indigenous women in intergenerational transmission);

5. Social inclusion and urbanization, ethics and civic engagement (e.g. recognition of sign languages, youth engagement, open solutions and other issues);

6. Cultural heritage and diplomacy (concept of equality of languages, cultural identity imbued in languages);

7. Technology, digital activism, and artificial intelligence (e.g. language technology);

Objectives of the TC - IYIL 2019 Group

Through the partnership with IYIL 2019 we aim to:

• Provide expertise, human resources (volunteers), digital tools, and online learning material
• Promote academics, cultures, sport, and information-sharing via informational events

We are calling for volunteers to join one of our project groups in support of IYIL2019 and indigenous languages:

University Events Committee: reaching out to Universities around the world and encouraging them to promote indigenous knowledge with workshops, lectures, and conferences. Read more about the initiative and gain access to the University resource bank here.

Language Technology Development: focused on helping indigenous groups to publish learning material online.

Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or ideas!