A/HRC/44/34 sustainable development and reconciliation in all societies, key elements emphasized during the International Year of Indigenous Languages. Indigenous languages could provide solutions to contemporary challenges, including climate change, which implied that the critical situation of indigenous languages carried a special and wider significance for humankind. 24. Illustrating the vital nature of indigenous languages, she provided examples in which lives were saved – and lost – due to the provision or lack of information in languages that communities could understand. Importantly, that issue remained poorly mainstreamed into policy agendas around the world, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. Indigenous peoples continued to face a widespread denial of their rights, catalysing negative, isolating and even deadly impacts on communities. She cautioned that, if immediate action was not taken, there would be a gradual loss of indigenous languages and the rich knowledge systems associated with them. 25. She expressed support for an international decade of indigenous languages and building on the best practices identified with regard to the International Year. She concluded by calling for policy collaboration and continuity of action, a capitalization of the full range of international, regional and national normative instruments and existing tools and the sharing of strategies for, with and by indigenous peoples, in order to protect the use of indigenous languages and their revitalization. B. Interactive discussion 26. Representatives of several Member States, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations took the floor to make comments or ask questions. There was a collective expression of commendation for the International Year of Indigenous Languages and its being a step towards raising awareness of the crucial role that languages played in indigenous people’s daily lives. It was widely noted that the International Year had provided ripe opportunities for reaffirming the rights of indigenous peoples, especially as they related to linguistic elements, the renewed practical commitments of States towards the promotion and protection of indigenous languages and the development of practical steps forward through the identification of central issues related to the question. There was extensive support for the continuation of the progress made during the International Year through the proclamation of an international decade of indigenous languages. 27. Many participants expressed concern over the critical loss of indigenous languages worldwide and its impact on the very survival of indigenous peoples, due to the intrinsic role of language in conveying history, knowledge, culture and values. They emphasized the crucial link between language and identity, inclusion, the enjoyment of fundamental rights and participation and underlined the need to promote, protect and revitalize those languages locally, nationally and internationally. Some of the challenges linked to the disappearance of indigenous languages included the following: cultural harm and extinction; loss of traditional and ancestral knowledge; exclusion with regard to access to and enjoyment of a number of basic rights and freedoms; multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination; lack of effective participation in public and private life; lack of implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; lack of multicultural and multilingual education; lack of adequate monitoring; and lack of inclusion of the issue within the development and peacebuilding agendas. 28. Indigenous representatives and representatives of State delegations, human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations highlighted ongoing initiatives to address the situation of indigenous peoples’ languages and rights in their respective countries. It was asserted that the promotion and preservation of indigenous languages fit into the broader ambitions to better promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples. Notwithstanding expressions of hope, many participants underlined the need to ensure the use, survival and revitalization of indigenous languages. They made the following recommendations: implement effective multicultural, multilingual and immersion education programmes; if an international decade of indigenous languages was declared, develop a concrete thematic action plan focused on peace, sustainable development and reconciliation; ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples on any issue relating to them; review the United Nations civil society accreditation process to allow more grassroots organizations to voice their concerns; establish close partnerships between States and 5