Action: Research

2680 out of 7000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain, and less than a hundred are used in the digital world.

International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. In 2019, the United Nations declared The Year of Indigenous Languages (IY2019) to raise awareness and recognise the important cultural value that they bring to our world.

The UN has proclaimed 2022-2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to draw global attention on the critical situation of many indigenous languages.

This is a great time to focus on planning screenings of films not in the English language, learn about the challenges Indigenous languages face by connecting people through language and culture through film.

February is LGBT+ History Month in the United Kingdom. It’s a month to celebrate the heritage, culture and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex self-defining groups.

Activists and allies can support by:

• Increasing the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT”) people, their history, lives and their experiences in the curriculum and culture of educational and other institutions, and the wider community;
• Raising awareness and advancing education on matters affecting the LGBT community;
• Working to make educational and other institutions safe spaces for all LGBT communities; and
• Promoting the welfare of LGBT people, by ensuring that the education system recognises and enables LGBT people to achieve their full potential, so they contribute fully to society and lead fulfilled lives, thus benefiting society as a whole.