UNESCO highlights multilingualism in the digital age on International Soninke Language Day
The day opened with remarks from UNESCO, Member States from the Africa Group, and the Association for the Promotion of the Soninke Language and Culture. Discussions focused on language policy and the transition to writing, including an examination of multilingualism in the digital age and what is needed to ensure Soninke has a place in an increasingly AI-driven world.
UNESCO presented its work on multilingualism in cyberspace, including the Global Roadmap for Multilingualism in the Digital Era: Advancing the Role of Language Technologies and its plan of actions. This tool sets out how governments, researchers, communities and industry can work together to ensure equitable access to language technologies, taking into account low-resource languages. Two priorities have been highlighted: Universal Acceptance, which enables domain names and email addresses in different scripts to function seamlessly across the internet, and community-led governance of linguistic data.
Communities around the world work to promote and transmit all languages, including Soninke, to ensure they can thrive in the digital environment. UNESCO monitors implementation of the 2003 Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace through a regular consultation of Member States. The monitoring is complemented by a call for contributions open to non-governmental stakeholders — including civil society organizations, private companies, academic and cultural institutions, libraries, archives and language communities — to share their experiences and good practices. The contributions from Soninke-speaking communities, and from all those working to support Indigenous, local and underrepresented languages, are essential to ensure that every language has a place in the digital future. Submissions for both consultations are now open until 28 February 2027.
This work is part of UNESCO's broader effort — including the multilingualism priority of the Information for All Programme (IFAP) — to ensure no languages are left behind as digital infrastructure expands beyond keyboard and script tools to the policy and governance questions that determine whether a language can genuinely function online.
UNESCO also presented the ongoing mapping exercise ahead of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages mid-term in 2027, inviting partners and stakeholders to share their planned activities and initiatives contributing to the Decade's Global Action Plan.
Alongside the policy discussions, the launch of practical literacy tools, such as a "Reading and Writing in Soninke" manual and a dedicated Soninke digital keyboard, put these principles into practice.
Beyond the policy discussions, the International Soninke Language Day 2026 embraced Soninke culture through a full programme of activities: a literary space, a gastronomic session showcasing culinary traditions from Soninke communities across nine West African countries, as well as a bilingual Soninke-French oratorical debate and a digital quiz engaging young participants. The event closed with a gala concert of choral, fashion, dance and musical performances. This programming reflected UNESCO's wider commitment, through its Priority Africa initiative and its work on languages in education, linguistic diversity, and on supporting communities in carrying oral traditions into written and digital forms without losing their cultural richness.
The celebration of International Soninke Language Day on 25 September was established by resolution 42C/61, unanimously adopted by UNESCO's General Conference in 2023.
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