United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages

The United Nations celebrated the International Year of Indigenous Languages in 2019. Throughout the year, the UN hosted events around the world, including state-sponsored conferences, trainings, theater performances, film screenings, and more. Learn more about the year: Strategic Outcome Document of the International Year of Indigenous Languages.

The UN General Assembly adopted a new resolution declaring 2022 to 2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages at the end of 2019. On February 28, 2020 in Mexico City, the U.N. prioritized the empowerment Indigenous language users as the purpose of the Decade:

Indigenous peoples’ rights to freedom of expression, to an education in their mother tongue and to participation in public life using their languages, as prerequisites for the survival of Indigenous languages many of which are currently on the verge of extinction.

The Decade will be organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) of the Secretariat.