general_information:international_legislation
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Table of Contents
International agreements protecting minority languages
About covenants protecting minority languages, and how they work
Many global and transnational agreements, in the form of covenants, exist, aiming to protect minority languages. Usually, these covenants propose a number of measures to improve the situation of minority languages. If a nation decides to ratify such a covenant, it commits itself to carrying out the measures proposed.
To determine whether a nation in fact carries out these measures, the nation has to report about it to a committee every few years. This report is then judged by a committee. If the committee deems the measures taken insufficient, the nation is informed of this. Though it is not proper to ignore the committee's judgement, nations sometimes do.
Though most covenants cannot be enforced, they do have power: because, by ratifying the covenant, a nation makes promises, and may be reminded about keeping or breaking those.
Examples of covenants
This list of conventions is not exhaustive, but aims to mentions some influential ones.
Global covenants:
Covenants by the United Nations:
- Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007): protects “indigenous peoples”.
- International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (1966), article 27: protects “ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities”.
- All members of the United Nations are expected to comply with its policies.
UNESCO's Declarations and Conventions
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- Offers protection for cultural diversity, including language and education thereof.
- Adopted unanimously at the General Conference1). All UNESCO Members States are urged to take the appropriate measurements, facilitate the their application, and to communicate to UNESCO on the developments.
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- Offers protection for: “Intangible Cultural Heritage”, including language.
- State parties who have ratified the Convention are expected to uphold its policies.
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s recommendations
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- Guidelines to guarantee education rights of national minorities.
- For the 57 OSCE participating States
ILO Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (1989)
- State parties who have ratified the Convention are expected to uphold its policies.
- Offers protection for: “indigenous peoples”.
- View the Convention here.
1)
UNESCO. (2002). Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity:a vision, a conceptual platform, a pool of ideas for implementation, a new paradigm. Cultural Diversity Series (1). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000127162.
general_information/international_legislation.1588747474.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/05/06 08:44 by ydwine