November 2018
Building on the 2016 Language for Resilience report, this cross-disciplinary publication gives perspectives on the role of language in enhancing the resilience of refugees and host communities.
The Salzburg Statement for a Multilingual World, launched on World Mother Languages Day in February 2018, reminded us that all 193 UN member states are multilingual and that 23 languages dominate as they are spoken by over one half of the world’s population (www.salzburgglobal.org). Thus, our world is truly multilingual, yet many education and economic systems, citizenship processes, and public administrations disadvantage millions of people due to their languages and language abilities. This disadvantage is most apparent in the lives of displaced people. Escaping conflict or political strife, individuals and families may have also left many resources behind them including their home languages.
This Language for Resilience Research Hub publication extends the original research findings by bringing together responses from a group of specialists working in each of the five areas: home language and literacy, qualifications and training, social cohesion, trauma, and institutional strengthening.