Language Millenium and Development Goals

Language and the

Millennium Development
Goals
Progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is
not happening equitably. Many of the low-income communities
in which more progress is needed live in complex language
situations. Choosing the best language in which to engage
with these marginalized communities is key to achieving the
remaining MDGs.

In the most challenging contexts for the MDGs, many people

do not speak a national or international language. Yet, when
development initiatives in these contexts are implemented in
people’s first languages, communities often create appropriate,
sustainable solutions. This briefing document outlines how the
use of people’s first languages helps communities choose appro-
priate solutions to make sustained progress towards each MDG.
Peoples’ identities are formed by their language,
Goal 1: culture and environment and the loss of any of these
Eradicate is frequently accompanied by large human and
social costs. For example, linking with MDG 7, many
Poverty and
non-dominant ethnolinguistic communities rely
Hunger
on seasonal crops, making them more susceptible
to extreme poverty due to crop failures as a result of
climate changes. The lack of information and services
in non-dominant languages means that ethnolinguistic
communities speaking these languages are often excluded
from government services and other development interventions.
Providing opportunities for these communities to become key
actors in accessing such opportunities–in a familiar language and
a culturally appropriate way–empowers them to make decisions
that positively impact their overall wellbeing.
Many children struggle at school when they are

Goal 2: not taught in their first language. Evidence clearly
Achieve shows that learning in one’s first language is
Universal more effective. Mother tongue-based multilingual
Primary education encourages contextually relevant learning
Education through the child’s first language, while also
allowing for the mastery of a national or international
language in later years. Where instruction is conducted
in the child’s first language in the first years of school–and
continues for as long as possible–it empowers the family and
wider community to help support and encourage ongoing learn-
ing outside of the classroom, contributing to children staying in
school longer and learning more.
Boosting women’s literacy and providing information
Goal 3: and support in their first languages improves their
Promote economic position and impacts favourably on the
Gender Equality way families bring up their children. For example,
and as women read about human trafficking, domestic
Empower abuse and other forms of maltreatment in a language
Women they understand, they are empowered to take positive
action. The same is true in the areas of health and
economic independence, with direct positive implications for
the whole families’ wellbeing.
Many non-dominant ethnolinguistic communities

Goal 4 and 5: find language a major barrier to accessing health
Reduce Child services. Lives can be saved through women receiving
Mortality and better information on nutrition, breastfeeding,
Improve Maternal medicine administration and how to prevent and
Health treat infections. Women are better able to care for
themselves and their family when they receive health
information in a language that is familiar to them and in
ways that are sensitive to their cultural context.
The stigma associated with diseases such as HIV/

Goal 6: AIDS makes the way we communicate about them
Combat HIV particularly important. Where people do not receive
and AIDS, Malaria essential information in their first languages, in a
and Other culturally sensitive manner and from people they
Diseases trust, they are particularly vulnerable to such diseases.
Providing information in people’s first languages helps
to bridge the gap between receiving information and
understanding it, and empowers people to make proactive
choices that slow the spread of such diseases.
This information is based on Why Language Matters for the Millennium Development Goals (UNESCO Bangkok 2012) (available from:
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002152/215296E.pdf ) and Why Languages Matter: Meeting Millennium Development Goals
through local languages (SIL International 2008).
Many regions of the world that are rich in natural
resources and biodiversity are also areas of the
Goal 7: greatest cultural and language diversity. Sustainable
Ensure development must be based upon the participation
Sustainable of minority groups, many of who depend on
Development healthy ecosystems for their survival and future.
Development initiatives that do not use people’s
first languages limit the participation of non-dominant
ethnolinguistic communities, resulting in the loss of
significant local knowledge and experience about how to
care for these unique ecosystems.
Building global partnerships requires clear commu-

Goal 8: nication. Forcing people to communicate in a
Foster Global language they do not understand well limits their
Partnerships ability to participate in such networks. Information
for Development and communications technologies (ICT) in people’s
first languages allows this participation and assists in
accelerating development across all MDGs, facilitating
the sharing of knowledge and information otherwise not
accessible and providing a tool to enhance partnership
between sectors.
Language, Education and Development (LEAD) Asia
Addressing questions around language and culture can be challenging
and require specific expertise and experience. LEAD Asia is committed
to helping see the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) realised for
all people, whatever language they speak, and as such is willing to
provide assistance to people or groups trying to consider questions
around language and culture. To learn more about how to leverage
the benefits of using peoples’ first languages in development work
visit: www.leadimpact.org
LEAD Asia is a unit of SIL International. SIL is a non-profit organization

that has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is an official NGO partner of UNESCO
with consultative status.
Asia Multilingual Education Working Group (MLEWG)

Asia Multilingual Education Working Group – consisting of UN
partner agencies, relevant international NGOs, civil society organi-
zations and academic institutions – was established in 2004 under
the Regional Thematic Working Group on Education for All (EFA) to
remove barriers of access to quality education for ethnolinguistic
TH/DOC/APL/13/005-2nd-Ed-1000
communities through the coordination of technical and substantive

Photo © Warren Field
support to multilingual education initiatives and related policy

advocacy throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
For further information, visit: www.asiapacificmle.net
T
TH/APL/ e
13/005-1000
xt

Language Millenium and Development Goals

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Language Millenium and Development Goals

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Language Millenium and Development Goals

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Language and the

In the most challenging contexts for the MDGs, many people

Many children struggle at school when they are

Many non-dominant ethnolinguistic communities

The stigma associated with diseases such as HIV/

Building global partnerships requires clear commu-

LEAD Asia is a unit of SIL International. SIL is a non-profit organization

Asia Multilingual Education Working Group (MLEWG)

communities through the coordination of technical and substantive

support to multilingual education initiatives and related policy

You might also like