UN / INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

Oscar nominated actress and star of the film Roma, who is also UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples, Yalitza Aparicio told the General Assembly that “no boy or girl should grow up ashamed of their roots” and they “should be aware that speaking an indigenous language is a source of pride as it reveals the world from its richest perspective.” UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:09
• Production Date: 17 December 2019
• Asset Language: English; Spanish
• Personal Subject: TIJJANI MUHAMMAD-BANDE
• Corporate Name: GENERAL ASSEMBLY
• Subject Topical: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES; LANGUAGES
• Geographic Subject: MEXICO
• MAMS Id: 2515629
• Parent Id: 2515629
• Alternate Title: unifeed191217e

Description

STORY: UN / INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES
TRT: 02:09
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SPANISH / NATS

DATELINE: 17 DECEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN headquarters

17 DECEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Yalitza Aparicio walks up to podium
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Yalitza Aparicio, Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples, UNESCO:
“My goal is for parents not to feel forced to forget who they are, where they come from, their roots, or to have to hide their indigenous languages in order to protect their children from a society that discriminates against them, restricts them and which boxes them in terms of their job opportunities and overcoming any barriers. No boy or girl should grow up ashamed of their roots. They should be aware that speaking an indigenous language is a source of pride as it reveals the world from its richest perspective.”
4. Med shot, delegate
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Yalitza Aparicio, Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples, UNESCO:
“In this International Year of Indigenous Languages, as proclaimed by UNESCO, I call upon you to ensure that actions being carried out in various countries to rescue languages do not end at the end of the year. Rather, they should continue for the whole of eternity so that no more of our history is lost. Let us value and respect our indigenous communities.”
6. Wide shot, General Assembly
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President, 74th session of the General Assembly:
“Every fortnight, at least one indigenous language vanishes from the face of the earth. This translates into two extinct indigenous languages each month. The status-quo is indeed grave. The surviving 4,000 indigenous languages are spoken by a mere 6 percent of the total world population. Equally noteworthy is the fact that 15 percent of the poorest people on our planet are indigenous.”
8. Med shot, delegate
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President, 74th session of the General Assembly:
“As we mark the closing of the international year of indigenous languages, it is important that we rededicate ourselves to the cause of promoting these languages. We must realize that in languages are scientific insights, hints of wisdom, and community practices that move civilizations from one stage to another.”
10. Wide shot, GA

Storyline

Oscar nominated actress and star of the film Roma, who is also UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples, Yalitza Aparicio today (17 Dec) told the General Assembly that “no boy or girl should grow up ashamed of their roots” and they “should be aware that speaking an indigenous language is a source of pride as it reveals the world from its richest perspective.”

Addressing a high-level event for the closing of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, Aparicio said parents should not “feel forced to forget who they are, where they come from, their roots, or to have to hide their indigenous languages in order to protect their children from a society that discriminates against them, restricts them and which boxes them in terms of their job opportunities and overcoming any barriers.”

She called upon member states “to ensure that actions being carried out in various countries to rescue languages do not end at the end of the year.” Rather, she said, “they should continue for the whole of eternity so that no more of our history is lost.”

General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande told the meeting that “every fortnight, at least one indigenous language vanishes from the face of the earth”

Muhammad-Bande said “the status-quo is indeed grave” and noted that “the surviving 4,000 indigenous languages are spoken by a mere 6 percent of the total world population.”

Equally noteworthy, he said, “is the fact that 15 percent of the poorest people on our planet are indigenous.”

The GA President said, “as we mark the closing of the international year of indigenous languages, it is important that we rededicate ourselves to the cause of promoting these languages” and “we must realize that in languages are scientific insights, hints of wisdom, and community practices that move civilizations from one stage to another.”

Reasons for the endangerment of indigenous languages include policies that prioritize linguistic assimilation over multilingualism, educational disadvantage, illiteracy, enforced relocation, migration or other manifestations of discrimination and disadvantages.

For the articulation of the major objectives of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL2019), UNESCO, as a lead UN agency, facilitated the development of an Action Plan for the International Year and established a Steering Committee for its organization.

The Action Plan is being implemented in consultation and cooperation with Member States, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as indigenous peoples and a range of different stakeholders.