Hear from Aksana Khan, CPF's Marketing, Communications and Engagement Manager, on the importance of language preservation on International Mother Language Day.
What language does your internal monologue speak in? Mine pinballs between English and Sylethi, both moulded by the London I grew up in, and the Brummie accents of those around me. This is my inner world - imagine the sheer variety held within the eight billion or so on this planet.
So why should we care when one language - out of 7000 spoken and signed languages in the world – becomes endangered?
It's because they’re an expression of our identities and signify our sense of place and rootedness. Languages shape our sense of self, tie us to our families and communities, and impact social stability. Their endangerment isn’t inevitable and they sit on a spectrum. A language becomes endangered due to pressures on those who speak/sign them. With support, they can be revitalised.
For the past ten years, the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund has supported projects which safeguard languages endangered by conflict and climate change. Since 2016, this includes projects in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Libya, Kenya, Uganda, Nepal, and Yemen.
So why does it matter?
A multilingual classroom facilitates equal opportunities
The languages we understand affect what doors are open for us. UNESCO estimates that over a quarter of a billion learners lack access to education in the language they understand best. It's why a multilingual classroom matters. As Professor Kimani Njogu from Twaweza Communications explains, the languages spoken at home ‘are often excluded from the education system and are viewed as of less value and prestige than the languages used in schools. This is despite their importance in social cohesion and in enhancing the sense of identity and belonging.’
This exclusion of other languages impedes learning outcomes and future opportunities. When a child hears their language in the classroom, it supports their emotional wellbeing as it makes them feel safe and embedded within their school. As they grow older, it especially strengthens the position of indigenous communities in decision-making processes too.
‘With appropriate policies, endangered languages can find space in the education system, dictionaries can be developed and grammar books written,’ continues Professor Kimani Njogu. ‘The advances in technology are a great opportunity for language preservation [too].’ Audiovisual recordings can preserve a language’s rhythm and tonality. With CPF support, this is exactly what Twaweza Communications have achieved to revitalise the Bajuni language along the northern area of Kenya’s Swahili Coast.
The Bajuni language has become critically endangered due to climate change, violent conflict, migration, and marginalisation. Twaweza Communications has worked with teachers and government officials to embed indigenous language education. The result? 2025 marked the first time the Bajuni language - spoken by over 15,000 - was taught in Kenya's schools.
Revitalising languages is climate action
At the end of this century, approximately 1500 languages may no longer be spoken. As indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change, preventing the loss of their languages means being able to decipher vast amounts of knowledge about their histories and traditions that have sustained their environment for multiple generations.
Nepal’s Lumbini Province is one example. With less than 200 community members residing in the area, the Kusunda language has become critically endangered as most of its community live in a region profoundly affected by the increased floods and landslides. For Monish Singh from Archive Nepal, ‘Preserving a language like Kusunda is about more than words; rather it is about safeguarding a unique worldview and an ancient identity that belongs to the 'Ban Rajas' (Kings of the Forest). When a language dies, we lose a vital piece of human history and the traditional knowledge that sustains indigenous communities.’
‘The Cultural Protection Fund provided the vital resources needed to bridge the gap between the last fluent speaker and the youngest generation through our 'Literature and Empowerment' model,’ adds Monish. ‘This support enabled us to move from theory to action.’
With CPF support, Archive Nepal have raised awareness and preserved this distinct language by producing 11 audiobooks that illustrate Kusunda’s unique phonics, developed an online and in-person language course that builds on the valuable work carried out by the Language Commission of Nepal. They have also restored a sense of pride and ownership within the Kusunda community through the publication of the first ever collection of Kusunda literature – a valuable resource for future generations.
Linguistic diversity supports social cohesion
Languages give a sense of our shared history and expressions of what we hope for the future. They carry stories, songs, and traditions.
For researchers and tourists to Soqotra, this archipelago between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, was known more for its unique biodiversity than its cultural heritage. Its range of plants, insects and animals is what led to Soqotra joining the World Heritage List in 2008. The language itself is unwritten and spoken less as more move to larger settlements. Yet it remains crucial for transmitting knowledge on handicrafts, songs, local plant names, traditional harvesting techniques, land use, and more.
In the first phase of CPF, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh worked with local partners to train a cohort of Soqotri people whose passion to promote their heritage, included the use of their endangered language. Heritage Festivals were held and local families were encouraged to creatively engage with the language through poetry and theatre. Four years after a series of theatre workshops held in 2019, the children who visited their elders to record traditional stories, had since grown in self-confidence. As a team member remarked, ‘Supporting Soqotri enriches the Yemeni cultural landscape and affirms that diversity is a strength, not a weakness.’
Today, former trainees and project team members who benefitted from CPF’s initial support in 2017, have since gone onto establish the Soqotri Language Centre and the Socotra Foundation for Cultural and Natural Heritage. These achievements illustrate how early CPF support has embedded international expertise in documentation locally, and strengthened local efforts to promote Soqotra’s language and its wider cultural and natural heritage.
When looking back at the Cultural Protection Fund’s decade of language preservation, it’s clear that revitalising languages is about equal opportunities, climate action, and supporting social cohesion. These CPF projects highlight that heritage protection work is neither limited to bricks and mortar nor is it about freezing the past. It’s agency. Supporting communities with the ability to safeguard and promote their languages on their terms, ensures that we have both a fuller picture of our shared heritage and an inclusive guide to the future too.
