In support of digitally endangered languages
The vision of the WordForge Foundation is a society in which access to information is not a barrier to just and equal social and economic development.
In this society that we aim to build, the fast deployment of information technology in developing countries is done in their local language, reducing inequality in access to the knowledge-based society, and therefore to the employment market, while improving education by using local-language technological support.
Also, in this ideal society, gender equality has been improved due to citizens having access to information on the rights of women and on how to use these rights; governments having access to information on the impact of their gender equality policies and how to improve them, and; NGOs having access to information about the work of other NGOs on gender equality, incrementing synergies between them.
Our mission is double-fold:
In support of Digitally Endangered Languages
The first part of the mission of the WordForge Foundation is to defend minority languages that - due to technological advance – are slowly being replaced by majority languages in schools and workplaces around the world. An important factor that influences this change is that these languages have not been able to acquire the necessary vocabulary for technology and modern office work and computer software has not been translated into them.
The Foundation refers to these languages as "Digitally Endangered Languages", and attempts to fulfill its mission by working directly in several countries on development of technological terminology and translation and localization of Free and Open Source Software to the language of the country, help develop general and education policies that support the use of local language in technology, and support the processes of change in education and on government bodies.
While most of the work of the WordForge Foundation takes place in Cambodia and Bangladesh, support has been given for the development of technology in local language in a number of other countries: Bhutan, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Nepal. Tools for localization of software developed by the Foundation are being used all over the world.
In support of Gender equality
Second, but not least important, the Foundation works to eliminate barriers to access to information that block women from accessing justice, services and a fair education; to develop channels of information that give governments information about the impact and shortcomings of their gender equality policies; and to help civil society increase its impact on gender equality by creating channels of information that help NGOs in the sector develop synergies between them.