A/HRC/44/34
UNESCO and other international agencies; include indigenous peoples as partners in the
implementation of the 2030 Agenda; and implement the provisions of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and those of other relevant instruments.
IV. Concluding comments from the panellists and the moderator
29.
Mr. Wyatt reiterated the commitment of the Government of Australia to the
promotion and protection of indigenous languages, illustrating that fact by mentioning the
ongoing efforts in State institutions to safeguard recordings of various indigenous
languages. Revitalization was also being driven by indigenous communities, with a number
of projects organized by and with elders and young people in a variety of spaces, notably in
schools. Efforts to enhance the visibility of indigenous languages, such as signage and
cartographic information displaying the indigenous names of cities, would continue. He
echoed concerns related to the loss of identity and connection to the world and one’s own
community when the knowledge of a language withered, giving the example of the rift that
could occur within families when persons experience dementia and revert to their mother
tongue. There was a need to ensure the perpetuity of language in order to support a broader,
more diverse vision of the world. He asserted that the Government of Australia would
continue to support indigenous languages and communities and their growth.
30.
Mr. Amouzay pointed to the important challenge facing the international community
in creating binding mechanisms, both institutional and legal, which would be able to
revitalize indigenous languages and guarantee linguistic rights. He responded to questions
regarding the scope of international legal frameworks in enabling the revitalization of
indigenous languages, noting that such structures were important to implementing
collective cultural rights, but that stakeholders at all levels within that multidimensional
field also played a crucial role as advocates.
31.
Ms. Kasinskaite highlighted the need to address the full spectrum of rights and
fundamental freedoms related to the question of indigenous languages, which must be
mainstreamed across different institutional mechanisms at all levels. Indigenous peoples
faced demographic transitions, limited political participation, poor living conditions and
limited access to a number of rights, namely, the right to education, the right to access to
justice, the right to public services provided in their languages and the right to stable
economic situations. Those circumstances limited indigenous peoples in the use of their
own languages, and that situation could be addressed through crosscutting, broad solutions.
She underlined the successes of the International Year of Indigenous Languages and called
for the continuation of similar efforts in the coming years, especially with 10 years left for
the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
32.
Ms. Carpenter concluded the panel discussion by recalling that indigenous peoples’
languages were living languages, even if they and their speakers had suffered and required
remedies in the present. She underlined that indigenous peoples’ languages were critical to
the present and future of the rights of indigenous peoples and expressed the hope for the
establishment of an international decade of indigenous languages.
6
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