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Regional Perspectives | Latin America and the Caribbean
Work is underway to implement the IberoAmerican General Secretariat SEGIB initiative to establish an IberoAmerican Institute of Indigenous Languages Approved earlier this year at the XXVII IberoAmerican Summit of Heads of State and Government The new institute aims to promote the use preservation and development of the indigenous languages spoken in Latin America and the Caribbean There are more than 100 indigenous languages that constitute shared or crossborder languages This initiative brings together nine IberoAmerican countries Bolivia Ecuador Paraguay Panama Mexico Colombia Nicaragua Guatemala and Peru The initiative recognise the importance of indigenous languages for social cohesion and inclusion cultural rights health and justice as well the usefulness of indigenous languages for sustainable development and the preservation of biological diversity as it involves ancestral and traditional knowledge that links humanity with nature In the same vein it insists on the rights of indigenous peoples to education in their mother tongue and to participate in public life using their languages The recovery of the culture and creative industries from the devastating impact of the COVID19 pandemic featured prominently when the Regional Cultural Committee of The Caribbean Community CARICOM met for its 29th Meeting 23 December to devise the way forward in setting the sectors on a sustainable path Participants including the Caribbean Development Bank Caribbean Export the University of the West Indies and UNESCO also discussed issues pertaining to the future of the Caribbean Festival of Arts CARIFESTA financing the regional cultural agenda implementing a regional strategic framework for the development of the sector and the Regions continuing pursuit of Reparations for Native Genocide and Slavery