UNESCO releases a study on the linguistic and cultural vitality of eight Indigenous peoples of Chile and calls for stronger partnerships to support their revitalisation

The session was opened by Lázaro Rodríguez, Head of UNESCO's Culture Programme in Santiago. Rodríguez stressed that "Indigenous languages are not just a vehicle for communication: they are living repositories of cultural heritage, domains of existence and, above all, spaces of linguistic rights." He further underlined that revitalisation requires sustained partnerships with public institutions, communities, universities and territorial stakeholders. "When a language is lost, all humanity loses," he stated.

The meeting brought together representatives of the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage; the Ministry of Social Development and Family; universities; territorial organisations; and tradition-bearers from diverse Indigenous communities. Its aim was to create a space for dialogue and to identify concrete opportunities for cross-sector cooperation on linguistic rights and revitalisation.

The publication launched is the result of a joint effort by UNESCO, the Intercultural Bilingual Education Programme (PEIB) of the Ministry of Education, and four high-level research teams: the Intercultural Bilingual Education Programme and the Ethnolinguistics Group at the University of Chile; the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication at the University of La Frontera; and the Laboratory of Languages and Cultures at the Catholic University of the North. Each study included Indigenous researchers, specialists in intercultural teaching, linguists, anthropologists and sociologists, enriching the analysis from multiple perspectives.

During the presentation, Gabriela Piña, the researcher responsible for coordinating the studies, highlighted the breadth and methodological depth of the work. "Language revitalisation is a community effort, not just a school-based one. That is why we included the voices of educators, school leaders, families, tradition-bearers and, above all, children," she noted. She added that the studies reveal the persistence of deep wounds caused by assimilationist policies, while also showing resilient communities that are now leading their own recovery processes.