are in the MOST Phase I website (1994-2003).
The MOST Phase II website is available at: www.unesco.org/shs/most.
Rights Law plays an important role in setting standards for linguistic
rights and, especially, for the protection and promotion of the identity
of linguistic minority groups. It provides the normative framework for
developing principles of democratic governance and multicultural policies
aimed at managing ethno-linguistic conflict.
To raise awareness about linguistic rights and to provide tools for decision-makers in governments, parliaments, and civil society, UNESCO's MOST Programme has collected the most relevant provisions in international conventions, declarations and multilateral treaties, which pertain to linguistic rights.
The rights of persons belonging to linguistic minorities have been increasingly acknowledged in international human rights law as both individual and collective human rights. For a legal discussion of the provisions listed below see the publications displayed in the Bibliography.
The final documents and recommendations of international conferences concerning education acknowledge the role that education can have in promoting language diversity and ensuring linguistic rights. The Draft Recommendation on the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace (2001) promotes language preservation and diversity through access to electronic services and resources.
Within the frameworks of the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE, formerly CSCE), the rights of persons belonging to regional and minority language groups have been addressed in multilateral treaties and conventions. The most important are:
A number of instruments deal with language rights, and in some cases to the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples, in the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) regional human rights system:
The regional system for the protection of human rights established under the Organization of African Unity has similarly addressed linguistic rights issues in two treaties:
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