The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has issued an invitation to non-governmental stakeholders, including civil society organisations, research institutions, media organisations, Indigenous peoples, and other stakeholders worldwide, to submit information on efforts to promote multilingualism and universal access to cyberspace as part of a new global consultation on the implementation of a landmark 2003 UNESCO Recommendation.
The call is intended to support the sixth consultation on the implementation of the Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace, adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in Paris, France, on October 15, 2003.
UNESCO said the consultation would gather examples of initiatives, policies, programmes, and good practices undertaken between 2023 and 2027 by organisations working to promote multilingualism, universal access to information, and linguistic diversity in the digital environment.
According to the organisation, the 2003 Recommendation provides an international framework for promoting multilingualism and ensuring more equitable access to cyberspace while also encouraging the development of multilingual digital content, wider access to information and communication technologies, language technologies and policies that enable all language communities, including Indigenous and underrepresented language communities, to participate fully in the digital world.
UNESCO is seeking contributions from a broad range of non-governmental stakeholders, including civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, universities and research institutions, cultural and heritage institutions, libraries and archives, Indigenous peoples and organisations, language communities, the private sector, media organisations, and members of the technical community.
The consultation provides an opportunity for organisations to document practical initiatives that have helped expand linguistic diversity and inclusion online.
UNESCO has made an online questionnaire available for organisations wishing to participate in the consultation. Stakeholders will be asked to complete the short online questionnaire describing activities undertaken in support of the Recommendation during the 2023 to 2027 reporting period.
The questionnaire covers areas such as multilingual digital content, digital inclusion, language technologies, Universal Acceptance, capacity-building, and partnerships, as well as other initiatives promoting linguistic diversity online.
Participants can also identify challenges, lessons learned, and emerging priorities.
Organisations submitting information may also choose whether their contributions can be published, as those that do not consent will have their responses treated anonymously.
UNESCO said the contributions would help it identify promising practices and gain a clearer understanding of global progress in implementing the Recommendation.
The call forms part of its broader efforts to advance linguistic diversity and digital inclusion and is linked to the organisation’s wider work during the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, covering the period 2022 to 2032.
The consultation is expected to provide UNESCO with valuable evidence about progress, gaps, and emerging priorities in the implementation of the 2003 Recommendation, potentially helping to shape future international action on multilingualism and universal access to information in the digital age.
The deadline for submitting contributions is February 28, 2027, and the questionnaire for non-governmental stakeholders for the submission of contributions is available at https://bit.ly/4qLYDpJ.
