document | Resource Mobilization Strategy

There are more than seven thousand languages on the planet, a vast majority of which are spoken and signed by Indigenous peoples. Over recent years, the linguistic rights of Indigenous peoples have gradually become a matter of international public interest, as languages around the world continue to disappear at alarming rates. If the global community fails to act, many of these languages could fall out of use by the end of the century, also causing potential disappearance of indigenous knowledge and cultures that are essential for addressing global issues such as those of environmental sustainability, climate change action, or biodiversity conservation.

While various international fora and cooperation mechanisms have called for the application of a holistic approach in language preservation, revitalization and promotion, with due attention to the full spectrum of human rights, the theme of Indigenous languages has often been approached as an auxiliary aspect within several wider fields such as self-determination, participation, land rights, climate change, socio-cultural development, or other issues.

Against this backdrop, the UN General Assembly proclaimed in 2019 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032) with the resolution A/RES/74/135 , inviting all stakeholders to draw attention to the critical loss of Indigenous languages and the urgent need to ensure that Indigenous languages are preserved, revitalized, promoted, and used across all socio-cultural, economic, environmental, and political domains and are drivers for building peace, justice, development, and reconciliation in our societies.

The International Decade calls on all stakeholders to work to ensure:
• Greater awareness of the importance of linguistic diversity and multilingualism
• Legal recognition of Indigenous languages
• Integration, mainstreaming and usage of indigenous languages
• Continued support through the allocation of financial, human, and institutional resources, and infrastructures