UNESCO launched the United Nations (UN) International Year of Languages on February 21, 2008, International Mother Language Day, with an information workshop entitled “Standard-setting Instruments Promoting Multilingualism.” UNESCO is the lead agency for carrying out activities related to the international year in view of its extensive work in the area of promoting multilingualism (in education and cyberspace, for example), safeguarding endangered languages, and supporting indigenous languages linked with traditional ecological knowledge and environmental sustainability. The international year is accompanied by the slogan “languages matter!” and this reflects the wider context within which it and its related activities have been conceived.

Languages are understood to be essential both to education (and effective learning) and development. Furthermore, they are considered fundamental to individual and community identity and social interaction in addition to communication and dialogue and ensuring environmental sustainability. As much as new development theories of the 1990s accepted the core role of culture in development, now the essential role of languages in relation both to culture and development is recognized, and a new strategy is needed to integrate these three elements. All this, however, is in the face of an accelerating loss of languages in a world where only a few hundred of the world's estimated 6800 languages enjoy official status in the education system or public life and face increasing threats from globalization. Such loss of languages not only diminishes linguistic diversity—a value in itself—but also leads to the erosion of cultural diversity (celebrated as a heritage of humanity by UNESCO's Declaration of 2001); the loss of traditional cultures, knowledge, and memory; and the loss of ways of seeing the world and modes of thinking.

In terms of the safeguarding and protection of languages, UNESCO is committed to promoting linguistic diversity and multilingualism as well as safeguarding endangered languages. A 2007 decision by UNESCO's executive board called for an investigation of the “technical and legal aspects of a possible standard-setting instrument for the protection of indigenous and endangered languages” in addition to a study of the outcomes of the relevant UNESCO programs. Hence, this meeting was also part of a wider interest shown by certain member states (in particular those from Latin America, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe) in the possibility of UNESCO developing a new normative instrument in this area. The dual nature of the study reflects (a) growing international concern that existing normative instruments are insufficient to the task of safeguarding languages and (b) the importance of taking account of normative and operational approaches in this endeavor.

The International Year of Languages was formally launched by presentations from H. E. Olabiyi Yai (president of UNESCO's executive board), Gabriele Mazza (director of school, out-of-school, higher education, and languages, Council of Europe), Anna Luiza Machado (deputy assistant-director general for education, UNESCO), and Adama Samassékou (president, African Academy of Languages). In their presentations, the following points were stressed: the intrinsic value of languages and linguistic diversity; the urgency of recognizing all languages and promoting linguistic choice; the need for multilingual policies both for the cognitive advantages of mother language-medium education and for ensuring greater social justice; the role of languages in preserving cultures (including indigenous ones); and the role of languages as an instrument fort development, regional integration, and democratic participation. An extremely comprehensive and challenging treaty text with far-reaching implications for its parties, the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages was introduced as a reference text for multilingual policymaking along with the social and political aspects of its application in the multilingual context of the wider Europe. The African Union's Plan of Action was also introduced, which calls for the recognition of African languages as languages of work and study alongside those languages inherited from the colonial past.

The information workshop was introduced by a keynote speech by this author on the existing normative tools at the international level for promoting multilingualism and safeguarding languages, based on the aforementioned study prepared for UNESCO's executive board. It set out the paradox that there is no shortage of legal provisions aimed at safeguarding languages and the rights of speakers and promoting multilingual policies, but that there is a continued (and accelerating) loss of languages and a sense among speakers of minority and indigenous languages that their needs are inadequately addressed. After presenting an overview of the existing international normative instruments in this area, the question of whether the normative approach is the best strategy for safeguarding languages was addressed. The potential role of the existing cultural heritage instruments (in particular the 2003 Intangible Heritage Convention that refers to “language as a vehicle of intangible cultural heritage”) in safeguarding languages in danger of disappearance was also considered. It was suggested that if UNESCO develops a new treaty for regulating this question, it should focus on languages themselves and not on language-related rights. Any such normative work should be based on the principle of linguistic diversity with multilingualism as a supporting principle. Addressing endangerment would also be a major purpose of any such instrument.

Following this, regional and national approaches and the experiences of Vanuatu, Hungary, and Paraguay in promoting multilingualism were presented. Vanuatu's language policy involved three official languages (Bislama, French, and English), and it faced certain obstacles in terms of poor teacher training and parental opposition to the vernacular language. The Hungarian experience was based on implementation of the European Charter and the school was seen to play a pivotal role in promoting minority languages. Paraguay has recently enshrined its two-language policy in new legislation that gives value to indigenous languages while promoting the national cultural heritage.

The European Charter was described in detail with an emphasis on the importance of developing policies that account for the different characters of languages (such as official, regional, minority, foreign, and migrant) to manage their coexistence in a nonconflicting manner. The experience of the Council of Europe Secretariat in overseeing the charter's implementation was also presented, showing the complexity of the task and the important point that the adoption of the charter is simply a first step in wider policymaking in this area. The economic costs to parties of implementation were also considered and generally regarded as acceptable in view of the economic and other benefits to accrue from ratification of the charter. The work of the European Union Commission in the area of multilingualism was also presented, with the establishment of the Commission on Multilingualism in 2007 and the Ministerial Conference on Multilingualism held in February 2008. The policy set out was described as plurilingualism where one national and two foreign languages are learned, with a comprehensive approach to all European languages.

UNESCO's work in the education sector over the relationship between education and language in the context of the right to education and the Education for All program was described. For example, this involves encouraging education for all without discrimination, while protecting linguistic minorities. UNESCO's work in relation to the 2003 convention was also set out, with an emphasis on the question as to how the implementation of this convention can contribute to safeguarding endangered languages. This is a potentially extremely interesting question, because the convention allows for international assistance to support regional, subregional, and national projects related to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and these can also include actions to promote and safeguard languages that are integral to the intangible cultural heritage.

The role of civil society in promoting multilingualism is central. Linguamón-House of Languages was recently established by the regional government of Catalonia as part of its policy to promote linguistic diversity described its activities in this area. SIL International, a nongovernmental organization established to fight social exclusion mainly operating in Africa, underlined that language policies can help ensure access for minority communities to information, education, the economy, political decision making, and a better quality of life.

A roundtable held at the end of the meeting helped to form some of the main issues raised by the various speakers:

• • The need to redefine the meaning of language itself

• • The connection between protecting languages facing extinction and the cosmovisions they convey

• • The consequences of language loss for a group's identity and cultural heritage

• • The insufficient effectiveness of existing normative instruments

• • The importance of cooperation between the authorities and communities for achieving language promotion and preservation

• • The need to battle against language hierarchies

• • The problems faced by minority languages in highly centralized countries, such as Breton in France

• • The importance of concrete measures and building political will for multilingualism

• • The challenges of bi- and trilingual education (as illustrated by implementation of the European Charter) and the problems of prejudice against minority and migrant languages