The Study Group on Language and the United Nations presents

Language Rights for
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

A Virtual Symposium on 10-11 June 2024

Multilingualism is a core value of the United Nations.  Yet it is rarely addressed in relation to the targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals. Recent milestones call attention to the relevance of multilingualism and language rights. The 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities was commemorated in 2022.  The launch of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages also in 2022 brought renewed attention to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).  In addition, the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was celebrated in 2023. Each of these instruments, among others (e.g., the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR]) have in common attention to language rights, including nondiscrimination with regard to language.  The Declaration on Minorities, UNDRIP, and ICCPR, in turn, variously enshrine the rights to language in settings such as education, media, and jurisprudence as well as the right to participate in all domains of society, including decision-making and political processes.

This two-day virtual symposium draws attention to the essential role that multilingualism must play in initiatives by the United Nations, Member States, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and other stakeholders to foster peace, justice and strong institutions.  Language mediates all human experience.  Fully inclusive dialogue, problem-solving and justice must involve substantive use of multilingualism to ensure that people can understand one another, access information equitably, and participate democratically. Multilingualism is fundamental to peaceful solutions and strong institutions. In addition, all initiatives must take linguistic minorities into account explicitly so that “nobody is left behind” due to their language background.  The symposium follows a panel format through which experts present their perspectives, engage in dialogue with each other, and prompt general discussion with participants.

Event Details

The symposium will take place virtually over two days:

Monday, 10 June

08:30-13:00 – New York
14:30-19:00 – Geneva
15:30-20:00 – Nairobi
19:30-12:00 – Bangkok

Tuesday, 11 June

08:30-13:00 – New York
14:30-19:00 – Geneva
15:30-20:00 – Nairobi
19:30-12:00 – Bangkok

A detailed programme will follow at a later time.

Registration

The symposium is open to United Nations staff members, delegates of Member States and staff members of missions, government officials of all levels, university researchers and students, NGO representatives, members of civil society, and others with an interest in the relationship between language rights and SDG 16.  There is no cost to attend the symposium, but preregistration is required.  Register here as soon as possible, but no later than 9 June.

Symposium Sponsors

The symposium is hosted by the Study Group on Language and the United Nations in collaboration with the NGO Committee on Language and Languages, a substantive committee of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), and made possible by generous support and assistance from

Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL)

Esperantic Studies Foundation (ESF)

De Gruyter

Centre for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems (CED)

Consortium for Language Policy and Planning (CLPP)