The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (known also as the Barcelona Declaration) is a document signed by the International PEN Club, and several non-governmental organizations in 1996 to support linguistic rights, especially those of endangered languages. The document was adopted at the conclusion of the World Conference on Linguistic Rights held 6–9 June 1996 in Barcelona, Spain. It was also presented to the UNESCO Director General in 1996 but the Declaration has not gained formal approval from UNESCO.
History
Precursors
Although the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has language as one of its categories for equal rights, it does not explicitly list and elaborate on linguistic rights. Even with declarations and rules on protecting specific languages and their rights, there was no binding document at that time that referred to all the languages or to world linguistic rights. As such, there have been attempts to fill this gap by expanding on the importance of linguistic rights in the global scene. In addition, the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (UDLR) holds regards to several policies that motivated the respect of linguistic rights. Some of the documents include:
Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National, Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities European Convention on Human Rights European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Universal Declaration of the Collective Rights of Peoples The idea of a Declaration was first proposed in 1984, where a Brazilian by the name of Francisco Gomes de Matos introduced to the International Federation of Modern Language Teachers (FIPLV), a plea for a Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights. He listed some of the principal linguistic rights, together with their educational implications. One of the most significant motivations stemmed from the 12th Seminar of the International Association for the Development of Intercultural Communication of 1987, held in Recife, Brazil, which also recommended the introduction of a declaration for linguistic rights. The Seminar then adopted a preliminary declaration that indexed some fundamental types of linguistic rights.
Drafting The main objective of penning a Declaration was to define equality in linguistic rights, regardless of differences in political or territorial statuses. It serves to promote international commitment in respecting the rights of linguistic groups, especially those of historicity, as well as individuals who do not reside within their native communities. As such, the UDLR does not distinguish among official, non-official, majority, local, regional, and minority languages. There was much complexity tied to the drafting process because it was not easy to come up with equal measures, definitions and reasons, especially since it required an international consensus. For instance, one of the most common problems lie in clarifying concepts and their terminologies. Subsequently, follow-up meetings and feedback sessions were held in Paris, Portugal and Frankfurt. In 1990, the FIPLV drafted a working document. In August 1991, the FIPLV organised a workshop in Pécs, Hungary. It was there that they managed to consolidate an agenda on fundamental principles for a UDLR. The Declaration was also discussed in December 1993, during a session of the Translations and Linguistic Rights Commission of the International PEN. At the beginning of 1994, a team was rooted to facilitate the process of writing the official document. About 40 experts from different countries and fields were involved in the first 12 drafts of the Declaration. Progressively, there were continuous efforts in revising and improving the Declaration as people contributed ideas to be included in it.
Adoption It was on 6 June 1996, during the World Conference on Linguistic Rights in Barcelona, Spain, that the Declaration was acknowledged. The Conference, which was an initiative of the Translations and Linguistic Rights Commission of the International PEN Club and the CIEMEN (Escarre International Center for Ethnic Minorities and the Nations), comprised 61 NGOs, 41 PEN Centers and 40 experts. The document was signed and presented to a representative of the UNESCO Director General. However, this does not mean that the Declaration has gained approval. In the same year, the Declaration was published in Catalan, English, French and Spanish. It was later translated into other languages, some of which include Galician, Basque, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, Nynorsk, Sardinian. Even so, there have been continuous efforts to bring the Declaration through as UNESCO did not officially endorse the UDLR at its General Conference in 1996, and also in subsequent years, although they morally supported it. As a result, a Follow-up Committee of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (FCUDLR) was created by the World Conference on Linguistic Rights. The FCUDLR is also represented by the CIEMEN, which is a non-profit and non-government organisation. The main objectives of having a follow-up committee was to 1) garner support, especially from international bodies, so as to lend weight to the Declaration and see it through to UNESCO, 2) to maintain contact with UNESCO and take into account the many viewpoints of its delegates, and 3) to spread awareness of the UDLR and establish a web of support. Consequently, the committee started a Scientific Council consisting of professionals in Linguistic Law. The duty of the council is to update and improve the Declaration from time to time by gathering suggestions from those who are keen on the issue of linguistic rights. The following summarises the progress of the UDLR:
Contents and Themes
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