More than 248 native languages face serious risk of extinction in Latin America (fwd)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

Published: Saturday, February 20, 2010
Bylined to: Jennifer Ross

More than 248 native languages face serious risk of extinction in Latin America

PRESS RELEASE
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=88629

On International Mother Language Day, the regional representation for
South and Central America of the United Nations Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stresses the need for effective
measures to halt the extinction of native languages across the region,
as well as to encourage their use.

The opportunity to use and transmit beliefs and traditions in one's
mother tongue represents not only a cultural right, but an essential
tool for ensuring knowledge of human rights. According to UNESCO, 90%
of the world's languages will disappear in the next 100 years.

South America is one of the most linguistically diverse regions in the
world. According to the UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's
Languages in Danger, there are more than 248 languages in Latin
America that are currently considered severely or critically
endangered, including: 14 in Argentina, 4 in Belize, 35 in Bolivia,
178 in Brazil, 8 in Costa Rica, 6 in Chile, 64 in Colombia, 12 in
Ecuador, 1 in El Salvador, 23 in Guatemala, 7 in Honduras, 143 in
Mexico, 8 in Nicaragua, 8 in Panama, 12 in Paraguay, 57 in Peru, 1 in
Uruguay, and 34 in Venezuela.

The Regional Offices of the OHCHR stress the urgency to adopt measures
to implement national and regional linguistic policies. At the same
time, they call on States to encourage intercultural bilingual
education as well as the production of digital contents in native
languages.

The Regional Offices of the OHCHR point out that such rights are
enshrined in Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, The
ILO's Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognize the right of
indigenous people to use, revitalize, stimulate and preserve their
language.

These instruments establish the responsibility of States to adopt
measures to ensure access for indigenous peoples to education in their
own culture and language, as well as their responsibility to adopt
effective measures to protect and guarantee the exercise of such
rights in political, judicial and administrative instances.

Jennifer Ross
JRoss at ohchr.org