[EDLING:144] OSCE Launches Minority Language Scheme

[Francis M. Hult]

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

OSCE Launches Minority Language Scheme 

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, is launching an 
education project in Central Asia aimed at integrating ethnic minorities into 
wider society. NBCentralAsia observers say the initiative will only break down 
barriers if the respective governments give it their sincere backing.

During a visit to Dushanbe on May 14, the OSCE High Commissioner for National 
Minorities, Rolf Ekeus, said the new education project will help ethnic 
minorities integrate into society and political life, thereby strengthening 
regional cooperation in Central Asia. 

The project aims to teach both minority and majority groups in Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan about the value of multilingual 
education by working both with state agencies and at local level with the 
general population. The OSCE hopes that learning about other languages and 
cultures in one’s own country and in the wider region will encourage better 
integration. 

Full story
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