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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.05pt;margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:5.05pt;margin-left:0cm;line-height:13.0pt'><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Following a proposal
by Venezuela, UNESCO is considering whether there is a need for <span
style='color:black'>a standard-setting instrument such as a declaration, a
convention or a recommendation for the protection of indigenous and endangered
languages. </span>UNESCO was unable to raise the extra-budgetary funds to call
a meeting of experts and so had to produce the report on their own. <span
style='color:black'>Section IV of the </span><a
href="https://www.ic.insitehome.org/sil/international-relations/archives/unesco/conventions/feasibility/at_download/file">preliminary
study</a><span style='color:black'> raises questions of purpose, scope,
functions and principles that will need to be addressed before a decision can
be taken.</span> The proposed two-year observation period 2010-2011 is really a
delaying tactic because there are not enough funds to develop a
standard-setting instrument. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.05pt;margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:5.05pt;margin-left:0cm;line-height:13.0pt'><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'>This report was debated in Paris last week at the Culture
Commission of UNESCO’s General Conference. <span style='color:black'>This
topic caused more debate than any other in the Culture Commission last week,
with 45 nations and one observer (SIL) taking the floor to address it. </span>Everybody,
without exception, spoke of the importance and urgency of acting because
languages are disappearing. <span style='color:black'>Some (Hungary, </span>Venezuela,
Chile & Ethiopia<span style='color:black'> ) called </span>for the UN
General Assembly to declare an <a href="http://donosborn.org/blog/?p=23">International
Decade of Languages and Multilingualism</a>. If a decade is to be declared
there will need to be some lobbying done in New York. Many praised
UNESCO’s <a href="http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=00206">Interactive
Atlas of the Word’s Languages in Danger</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Regarding
the need for a standard-setting instrument, some (Argentina & Cuba) said
put it on the agenda for the 36<sup>th</sup> General Conference in 2011, others
(India, Sweden & St. Lucia) said hold an expert meeting soon and some
(Bolivia, Guatemala, Cuba & Venezuela) even offered to pay for it. These
four nations also called for UNESCO to appoint somebody to act as a focal point
to coordinate actions for protecting endangered languages. UNESCO has
agreed to this and appointed Mauro Rosi. Some (Poland, Venezuela, Mali, Mexico,
Brazil & South Africa) called for a legally-binding convention, while
others (Cuba, Australia & Tanzania) preferred a more advisory instrument
like a declaration. Still others (Austria, Germany, Japan, Korea, Greece,
Monaco, Norway, Spain, Russia & USA) said we need to study how we can
improve existing conventions before creating new ones. South Africa reiterated
the call in the <a
href="http://www.acalan.org/eng/confeven/forum/commitment.pdf">Bamako
Commitment on Universal Multilingualism</a> for an International
Conference on Multilingualism. UNESCO has promised to “keep the pot
boiling” on this topic during the coming biennium. Category 2 meetings,
where all members states are present, are now the norm before a proposed
convention or declaration goes to the UNESCO General Conference.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
150%;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>My contribution to the debate ended with “As
we sit here and talk, unique voices around the world are falling silent!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Dave
Pearson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;text-autospace:none'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>SIL
International<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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