Welcome to the United Nations
Addressee: UNESCO
Full Text
The Permanent Forum recognizes the crucial role of academia in researching, documenting and teaching indigenous languages. It encourages UNESCO to duly consider and accept UNESCO Chair applications by universities and research institutions with a view to establishing UNESCO Chairs on indigenous languages and other educational initiatives that support the goals of the International Decade.
Responses
SDG4 related activities undertaken by UNESCO in support of Indigenous Peoples issues, include:
• The UNESCO International Literacy Day took place on 8 September on the theme of Transforming literacy learning spaces. UNESCO’s Education Sector committed to continuing to promote learner-centric literacy spaces and literacy in local languages to support the inclusion of marginalized groups and transform learners’ literacy learning.
• Language Expert meeting on Multilingual education and publication UNESCO will publish the revised and updated version of the UNESCO Position Paper “Education in a Multilingual World” 2003 towards the beginning of 2023. The new document will consider multilingual education Guidelines for global contexts and specific contexts which respond to the needs of the excluded, the marginalized population, indigenous peoples. Language experts including Indigenous experts have brought in their experience and knowledge during the revision process in 2022.
• Course on family learning and Indigenous knowledges (UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning, UIL). The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and supported by the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation at the University of East Anglia is launching a self-directed, self-paced online course on Family Learning and Indigenous Knowledges to address the integration of local and indigenous knowledges into family and intergenerational learning programmes. The overall objective is to contribute to improving literacy for all and achieving sustainable development.
• Webinar on Teaching and Learning Indigenous Languages: Inspiring Practices from the UNESCO Associated Schools Network, October 2022. The ASP Webinar organized with the support of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO furthered the objectives of the Decade within the framework of the Global Action Plan of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages. ASPnet launched a global survey in May 2022 on the teaching and learning of Indigenous languages in the network’s schools. The survey requested information on the institutional framework for the teaching of Indigenous languages in ASPnet schools and prompted schools to share relevant practices. 210 schools replied to the survey from 38 countries from all around the world. The survey demonstrates a wide array of practices for the teaching and learning of Indigenous languages and cultures in schools. Overall, the survey showed three major trends that are important to highlight:
− Teaching of Indigenous languages in in-person or digital classroom settings
− Promoting of Indigenous languages through international days and activities
− Mainstreaming of Indigenous Peoples' culture, history and knowledge, based on a human rights approach
Final Report of UNPFII Session 21 (2022)
Area of Work
