UN: 90% of World’s Languages Could Disappear

By News Desk; published on January 15, 2010 at 4:06 pm

A UN report published this week has identified the threat posed to global cultural diversity by systematic mistreatment of the world’s indigenous populations. Native people make up 5% of the world’s population, yet speak a disproportionate number of languages, manage a disproportionate amount of rural land and suffer disproportionate ill health and suicide rates.

The UN report also warns of the dangers of commodifying the cultural heritage of traditional land owners as external efforts to profit from “exotic” cultures often provide little or no benefit to indigenous people themselves and can even harm community esteem.

By aggregating data from indigenous people around the world, the UN has built up a clear picture of the consistently negative effects of relocation, assimilation and marginalisation on native people from Aborigines in Australia to Inuit in Canada.

To read the full report, click here.

Posted by News Desk on January 15, 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

News Tags: Aborigines, Australia, Canada, Inuit, New Zealand, UN.

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