ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC

Language and the

Millennium
Development Goals

Progress Towards the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)

ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC

SECTION 1: UNDERSTANDING
What is MDGs?
The 8 Goals of Millennium Development

CONTENTS OF THE REPORT

SECTION 2: ROLES
Why is language Important?
Roles of Language in MDGs

LANGUAGE AND THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Section 1 ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC

WHAT IS MELLENNIUM
DEVELOPMENT
04
GOALS?
ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

are eight goals with measurable targets and
clear deadlines for improving the lives of the
world's poorest people. To meet these goals
and eradicate poverty, leaders of 189
countries signed the historic millennium
declaration at the United Nations Millennium
Summit in 2000.

LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

GOAL 1: ERADICATE
POVERTY AND HUNGER

Peoples’ identities are formed by their language,

culture and environment and the loss of any of these
is frequently accompanied by large human and
social costs.

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.

LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

GOAL 2: ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL
PRIMARY EDUCATION

National education policies that prioritize learning in

the mother tongue within a strategy to improve
educational quality and access are in the political
and economic interests of countries with high levels of
linguistic
diversity.

Many children struggle at school when they are

not taught in their first language. Evidence clearly
shows that learning in one’s first language is
more effective. Mother tongue- based multi l in gual
edu cation encourages context ually rele vant learning
through the child’s first lang uage, while also
allowing for the mastery of a national or international
language in later years.
LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
GOAL 3: PROMOTE GENDER
EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN

Boosting women’s literacy and providing

information and support in their first
languages improves their economic position
and impacts favourably on the way families
bring up their children.

Women from minority groups are often

particularly excluded from opportunities to
improve their situations. They suffer the
“compound” impact of discrimination based
on gender and discrimination based on
ethnic, religious or linguistic diversity.
LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
GOAL 4 AND 5: REDUCE CHILD
MORTALITY AND IMPROVE
MATERNAL HEALTH

Many non-dominant ethnolinguistic

communities find language a major
barrier to accessing health services.
Lives can be saved through women
receiving better information on nutrition,
breastfeeding, medicine administration
and how to prevent and treat infections.

LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

GOAL 6: COMBAT HIV AND
AIDS, MALARIA AND
OTHER DISEASES

The stigma associated with diseases

such as HIV/AIDS makes the way we
communicate about them particularly
important. Where people do not receive
essential information in their first
languages, in a culturally sensitive
manner and from people they trust, they
are particularly vulnerable to such
diseases.
LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
GOAL 7: ENSURE
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Many regions of the world that are rich in

natural resources and biodiversity are also areas
of the greatest cultural and language diversity.
Sustainable development must be based upon the
participation of minority groups, many of who
depend on 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.
LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
GOAL 8: FOSTER GLOBAL
PARTNERSHIPS FOR
DEVELOPMENT

Building global partnerships requires clear

communication. Forcing people to communicate
in a language they do not understand well limits
their ability to participate in such networks.
Information 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 AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
WHY IS LANGUAGE
IMPORTANT?
ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC

Language is one of the most

important parts of any culture. It is
the way by which people
communicate with one another, build
LANGUAGE relationships, and create a sense of
community. There are roughly 6,500
spoken languages in the world today,
and each is unique in a number of
ways.

LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

COMMUNICATION AND
ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC ADVOCACY
Language serves as a medium for communicating
the importance of the MDGs to a global

ROLES OF
audience. Advocates and organizations used
language to raise awareness, mobilize support,
and advocate for the achievement of these
LANGUAGES IN goals.

MILLENNIUM EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT Language is fundamental to education, and
achieving universal primary education (MDG 2)

GOALS relies on effective language instruction.

Multilingual education programs are essential to
ensure that children can learn in their native
languages while also acquiring proficiency in
LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
other languages, such as the official language(s)
of their country.
PARTICIPATION AND
ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC
INCLUSION
Language can either facilitate or hinder
individuals' participation in decision-making
ROLES OF processes related to development. Promoting
inclusive governance (MDG 8) requires that
LANGUAGES IN language barriers do not exclude minority groups
or marginalized communities from participating
MILLENNIUM in discussions and decision-making.

DEVELOPMENT MONITORING AND

REPORTING
GOALS Reporting progress on MDGs involves data
collection, analysis, and reporting. Standardized
terminology and language are crucial to ensure
LANGUAGE AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
that data is consistent and comparable across
different regions and countries.
ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC

REFERENCES:
HTTPS://WWW.ILO.ORG/GLOBAL/TOPICS/MILLENNIUM-DEVELOPMENT-GOALS/LANG--EN/INDEX.HTM

HTTPS://GREENHEART.ORG/BLOG/GREENHEART-INTERNATIONAL/LANGUAGE-THE-ESSENCE-OF-CULTURE/

HTTPS://BANGKOK.UNESCO.ORG/CONTENT/WHY-LANGUAGE-MATTERS-MILLENNIUM-DEVELOPMENT-GOALS UNITED NATIONS. (2000).

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS. HTTPS://WWW.UN.ORG/MILLENNIUMGOALS/ UNESCO. (2003). EDUCATION IN A MULTILINGUAL WORLD.

HTTPS://UNESDOC.UNESCO.ORG/ARK:/48223/PF0000129831 UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME. (2005). GENDER EQUALITY

STRATEGY 2008–2013. HTTPS://WWW.UNDP.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/GENDER-EQUALITY-STRATEGY-2008-2013 UNITED NATIONS. (2015).

TRANSFORMING OUR WORLD: THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. HTTPS://SDGS.UN.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/TRANSFORMING-OUR-
WORLD-2030-AGENDA-SUSTAINABLE-DEVELOPMENT-1796
ILOILO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MC

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