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- NWAC CEO Lynne Groulx Participates in United Nations Effort to Preserve Indigenous Languages Worldwide
Policy Sectors
(Ottawa, ON) – To help commemorate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and to support the vital work of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFFI), Native Women’s Association of Canada CEO Lynne Groulx will be in Washington, D.C. August 9 to add Canada’s voice to the growing worldwide call to revitalize, preserve and promote Indigenous languages.
To commemorate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the Secretariat of the UNPFFI has chosen Indigenous Languages as its theme for 2019 and has organized an event that will bring together Indigenous peoples’ organizations, UN agencies, Member States, civil society and relevant stakeholders to share good practices and innovative initiatives on Indigenous languages.
“Given the United Nations General Assembly declared 2019 as International Year of Indigenous Languages, I am delighted PFFI is helping to highlight and advance the critical issue of preserving Indigenous culture and language,” said Groulx. “In Canada, the final report of the Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls (MMIWG) urged, as one of its 231 Calls for Justice, that Canadian governments recognize Indigenous languages as official languages, with the same status, recognition, and protection provided to French and English. Communicating with Canada’s Indigenous peoples in the language of their choosing is a critical step toward restoring, reclaiming, and revitalizing cultures and identities.”
Recent UN estimates suggest that more than half of the world’s languages will become extinct by 2100 and that 95 percent of them may become extinct or seriously endangered by the end of the present century. The loss of Indigenous languages is one of the most critical issues that Indigenous peoples face today.
The PFFI event will feature a panel of Indigenous experts and guest speakers and be moderated by Ms. Chandra Roy-Henriksen, Chief of the Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch - Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
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For more information, contact:
Steven Pink
Senior Director of Legal and Communications
For information, or to arrange an interview, contact:
Annette Goerner
annette@sparkadvocacy.ca
+1 (613) 818-6941
Pour obtenir plus d’information ou prendre des dispositions pour une interview, contacter:
Annette Goerner
annette@sparkadvocacy.ca
+1 (613) 818-6941
About The Native Women’s Association of Canada
The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is a National Indigenous Organization representing the political voice of Indigenous women, girls, transgender, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people in Canada, inclusive of First Nations on and off reserve, status and non-status, disenfranchised, Métis and Inuit. An aggregate of Indigenous women’s organizations from across the country, NWAC was founded on the collective goal to enhance, promote and foster the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of Indigenous women within their respective communities and Canada societies.
À propos de l'Association des femmes autochtones du Canada
L'Association des femmes autochtones du Canada (AFAC) est une organisation autochtone nationale qui représente la voix politique des femmes, des filles, des transgenres, des bispirituels et des personnes de sexe différent au Canada, y compris les membres des Premières nations vivant dans les réserves et hors réserve, les Indiens inscrits et non inscrits, les personnes privées de leurs droits, les Métis et les Inuits. Regroupant des organisations de femmes autochtones de tout le pays, l'AFAC a été fondée dans le but collectif d'améliorer, de promouvoir et de favoriser le bien-être social, économique, culturel et politique des femmes autochtones au sein de leurs communautés respectives et des sociétés canadiennes.
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