UNESCO launches Register of Good Practices in Language Preservation (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

UNESCO launches Register of Good Practices in Language Preservation

18-07-2005 (UNESCO)
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=19434&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Increasing its efforts to provide project agents with the necessary
tools for the safeguarding of languages in danger of extinction,
UNESCO's Endangered Languages Programme is launching a world-wide call
for submissions to its new 'Register of Good Practices in Language
Preservation'.

The Register will serve as a nexus of knowledge supply and demand where
experience in language protection projects can be accumulated and made
publicly available, in order to give future preservation projects a
head start.

The rationale behind the newly-launched Register of Good Practices in
Language Preservation is simple: a collection of positive experience
reports from past and current project agents shall provide a rich
source of problem-solving approaches, hands-on solutions, practical
information, adaptable models, and do's and don'ts of language
preservation, to be easily accessed as a self-help tool by current and
future project agents, empowering them in their ongoing efforts.

The lessons learned in the face of language endangerment can thus be
passed on to a wider circle and a 'new generation' of activists
world-wide.

For submission to the Register of Good Practices in Language
Preservation, reports on any kind of community-based projects by
governmental and non-governmental organisations, field agents,
community members, and related experts are welcome. A Call for
Submissions to the Register is currently being disseminated via
international networks and listservs; the Call is also accessible via
the Register's website hosted by the Endangered Languages Programme.

Each of the world's roughly 6.000 languages reflects a unique world-view
and culture complex, thus representing an integral part of living human
heritage. Yet experts estimate that today, over 50% of all languages
are in danger of extinction. In accordance with UNESCO's Universal
Declaration on Cultural Diversity, it is therefore the Endangered
Language Programme's mission to aid in the preservation of linguistic
diversity, and to provide assistance to language safeguarding efforts
across the globe. The Register of Good Practices in Language
Preservation will be a valuable tool for this purpose.