INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICE Evaluation Office INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICE Evaluation Office i Management Response INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICE United Nations Educational, Scientific and Evaluation Office Cultural Organization EVALUATION OF UNESCO’S ACTION TO REVITALIZE AND PROMOTE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES Within the framework of the International Year of Indigenous Languages March 2021 IOS/EVS/PI/194 ©Shutterstock /Monkey©Shutterstock Business Images ii Commissioning Office: UNESCO Internal Oversight Service (IOS), Evaluation Office Ekaterina Sediakina Rivière, Evaluation Manager, UNESCO Evaluation Office Martyna Wanat, Evaluation Consultant, UNESCO Evaluation Office Authors: Claire Thomas, Lydia van de Fliert, Oliver Loode, Silvia Quattrini, Mihaela Cojocaru Minority Rights Group International Indigenous Advisory Committee members: Africa: Dr. Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine and Nouha Grine; Arctic: Aluki Kotierk; Asia: Dr. Maung Nyeu; Eastern Europe, Russia and Transcaucasia: Dimitry Harakka-Zaytsev; North America: Dr. Wesley Leonard; South, Central America and Caribbean: Irma Pineda Santiago. Professor Ghil’ad Zuckermann. Chair of Linguistics and Endangered Languages, University of Adelaide, provided linguistic advice and Dr. Wesley Leonard shared an analysis of the key concepts of the International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019 and the International Decade of International Languages 2022-2023 to inform the evaluation. Evaluation Reference Group Members: Irmgarda Kasinskaite, Coordinator IYIL2019, UNESCO Communication and Information (CI) Sector Jaco Du Toit, Chief, Universal Access to Information Section, UNESCO CI Sector Sylvie Coudray, Chief, Executive Office, UNESCO CI Sector Carlos Vargas Tamez, UNESCO Office in Santiago and Regional Bureau for Education Noro Andriamiseza Ingarao, Programme Specialist, Section of Education for Inclusion and Gender Equality, UNESCO Education Sector Nigel Thomas Crawhall, Chief, Section on Small Islands and Indigenous Knowledge, UNESCO Natural Sciences Sector; Coordinator of UNESCO’s Intersectoral Working Group on Indigenous Issues Anna Maria Majlöf, Chief a.i., Inclusion and Rights Section, UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector Susanne Schnuttgen, Chief, Capacity Building and Heritage Policy Unit, Living Heritage Section, UNESCO Culture Sector Damiano Giampaoli, Programme Specialist, UNESCO Division for Gender Equality Chandra Roy-Henriksen, Chief of the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, UN DESA Arturo Requesens-Galnares, Associate Legal Officer, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, UN DESA Aili Keskitalo, President, Sami Parliament; Co-chair Steering Committee for IYIL2019 Pablo Guayasamin, Counsellor, Permanent Delegation of Ecuador to UNESCO, Co-chair Steering Committee for IYIL2019 Evaluation period: September 2020 – February 2021 Location of the Evaluation: Cover photo credits: Global, no field visits Photographer – Kicking Bird Photography LLC Report Submission: Owner - ‘Aha Pūnana Leo March 2021 Acknowledgement– Photo of ‘Aha Pūnana Leo, Inc. iii Abstract & Acknowledgements Abstract & Acknowledgements ABSTRACT To draw attention to the critical loss of indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote them and to take further urgent steps at the national and international levels, in 2016 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 71/178 proclaimed the year beginning on 1 January 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (hereafter the IYIL2019). UNESCO was invited to serve as the lead agency for the Year and the coordination role was internally assigned to the Communication and Information Sector. UNESCO requested an evaluation of its action within the IYIL2019 with a view to learning from its experience during 2019 and further strengthening its coordination and implementation role during the upcoming Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032). As the lead agency for the IYIL2019, UNESCO played a key role raising awareness of not only the critical loss of indigenous languages, but also the positive value and meanings that indigenous languages provide to Indigenous Peoples and humanity at large. The evaluation found that UNESCO led the development of an ambitious and relevant Action Plan for the Year. It also succeeded in setting up an 18-member Steering Committee composed of representatives of Member States, Indigenous Peoples and the UN three-party indigenous mechanisms. UNESCO staff implemented more than 80 activities around the world, with three-quarters of these at the global level and the majority of national events in Latin America and the Caribbean region. It also maintained an interactive website, which registered more than 880 events around the world. Leading and coordinating the IYIL2019 was not without its challenges, particularly as UNESCO was asked to lead this effort within existing resources and relying on a very small core team. Its programme sectors found creative solutions for indigenous language programming, but without a budget for intersectoral activities, collaboration between sectors was limited to information sharing and activities in Africa and the Arab States were few. The evaluation also found that the Action Plan lacked a meaningful results framework and thereby did not facilitate the monitoring of the IYIL2019. Partnerships with UNESCO networks and the wider UN system were underutilized and many opportunities for future collaboration have been highlighted for the upcoming Decade. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The IOS Evaluation Office would like to acknowledge and thank all who participated in and contributed to the evaluation. The evaluation was managed by Ms. Ekaterina Sediakina Rivière, Principal Evaluation Specialist, with the assistance of Ms. Martyna Wanat, Evaluation Consultant, and conducted with a consultant team from Minority Rights Group International: Ms. Claire Thomas as Team Leader, Ms. Lydia van de Fliert as the Evaluation Specialist, Mr. Oliver Loode as a Thematic Expert, Ms. Silvia Quattrini as a Thematic Expert, and Ms. Mihaela Cojocaru as Research Assistant. The IOS Evaluation Office was responsible for the overall quality of the evaluation process and deliverables. Valuable support was also provided by the Evaluation Reference Group that included representatives from all five UNESCO Programme Sectors, the Gender Equality Division, the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at UN DESA, and two co- chairs of the Steering Committee of the International Year of Indigenous Languages (representing Member States and Indigenous Peoples). Mr. Geert Engelsmann, an independent evaluation consultant, provided external quality assurance of the evaluation report. The IOS Evaluation Office would like to thank all UNESCO staff who supported the evaluation process by providing documents, contacts and viewpoints. In particular, the team thanks Ms. Irmgarda Kasinskaite-Buddeberg and her team from the Universal Access to Information Section in the Communication and Information Sector, who provided valuable support throughout the evaluation process. In addition, the team thanks Ms. Kyungah (Kristy) Bang and Ms. Misako Ito from the Bangkok Office, as well as Ms. Indira Salazar Martinez from the Quito Office for their support with the case studies for the evaluation. Bert Keuppens, Director a.i. Internal Oversight Service iv Table of Contents Table of Contents Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................................................vi Annexes ......................................................................................................................................................................... 42 Executive Summary ...............................................................................................................................................viii Annex 1: Selected Survey Results .................................................................................................................. 43 Management Response .......................................................................................................................................xii Annex 2: Case Studies ........................................................................................................................................... 45 Chapter 1: Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................1 Annex 3: Snapshots ................................................................................................................................................ 49 1.1 Background ...............................................................................................................................................1 Annex 4: Further Survey Data .......................................................................................................................... 53 1.2 Evaluation Purpose, Scope and Use ..........................................................................................2 Annex 5: Terms of Reference ............................................................................................................................ 65 1.3 Methodology ...........................................................................................................................................3 Annex 6: Methodology of the