UNESCO announced on 21 July 2026 that work under the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022–2032 is moving into a more concrete phase, with preservation, revitalisation and meaningful use in digital environments at its centre.
The organisation says 21 action plans have now been completed: 17 national, two regional and two institutional. They adapt the global strategy to local needs, and many place digital inclusion at the heart of language revitalisation.
A new development is the appointment of Professor Thomas Mullaney to the UNESCO Chair in Digital Futures. His work is closely connected to expanding technology support for under-resourced languages by bringing language communities, universities, technology companies and international organisations together.
The issue extends beyond documenting languages. When keyboards, platforms, services and artificial-intelligence tools do not support them, their speakers risk exclusion from parts of digital life. UNESCO stresses that Indigenous communities must guide priorities and lead implementation.
This ON MEDIA.AL article was written from scratch using UNESCO’s official announcement as its factual basis. The text and illustration are original and do not reproduce the source material.
