Linguapax was born from the will to contribute to the culture of peace through multilingual education based on tolerance and international understanding and advocating respect for linguistic diversity.
Our action is inspired and supported by the following international reference documents and normative texts:
- Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to Religious and Linguistic Minorities, UN, 1992
Article 1.1 States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.
Article 4.3 States should take appropriate measures so that, wherever possible, persons belonging to minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue.
Full text available from: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/47/a47r135.htm
or http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Minorities/Booklet_Minorities_English.pdf
- European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, Council of Europe, 1992
Article 7.3 The Parties undertake to promote, by appropriate measures, mutual understanding between all the linguistic groups of the country and in particular the inclusion of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to regional or minority languages among the objectives of education and training provided within their countries and encouragement of the mass media to pursue the same objective.
Full text available from: http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/148.htm
- Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, UNESCO, 1995
Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication, and freedom of thought, conscience and belief. Tolerance is harmony indifference. It is not only a moral duty, it is also a political and legal requirement. Tolerance, the virtue that makes peace possible, contributes to the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace.
Full text available from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001518/151830eo.pdf
- Universal Declaration on Linguistic Rights, PEN International, 1996
Article 7.1. All languages are the expression of a collective identity and of a distinct way of perceiving and describing reality and must therefore be able to enjoy the conditions required for their development in all functions.
Article 23.3 Education must always be at the service of linguistic and cultural diversity and of harmonious relations between different language communities throughout the world.
Full text available from: http://www.pencatala.cat/documents/dlr_angles.pdf
- Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, UNESCO, 2001
“Main lines of an action plan:
- Safeguarding the linguistic heritage of humanity and giving support to expression, creation and dissemination in the greatest possible number of languages.
- Encouraging linguistic diversity – while respecting the mother tongue – at all levels of education, wherever possible, and fostering the learning of several languages from the earliest age.”
Full text available from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001246/124687e.pdf#page=67
- Education in a Multilingual World, Education Position Paper, UNESCO, 2003
“Education for All means a quality education for all. In today’s world this means including consideration of the many varied cultural and lingüístic contexts that exist in contemporary societies. These pose a challenge for policy-makers…”
Full text available from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001297/129728e.pdf
- Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, UNESCO, 2005
“Recalling that linguistic diversity is a fundamental element of cultural diversity, and reaffirming the fundamental role that education plays in the protection and promotion of cultural expressions”… “Cultural diversity can be protected and promoted only if human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression, information and communication, as well as the ability of individuals to choose cultural expressions, are guaranteed.”
Full text available from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001429/142919e.pdf
- Girona Manifesto on Linguistic Rights, PEN Català – CIEMEN, 2011
- Linguistic diversity is a world heritage that must be valued and protected.
- Respect for all languages and cultures is fundamental to the process of constructing and maintaining dialogue and peace in the world.
Full text available at: http://www.pencatala.cat/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/angles-english-1.pdf
Short multilingual video introducing the Manifesto: https://youtu.be/163TC5vVgkE
