News and events
On the occasion of the International Year of Languages, * UNESCO Courier * (www.unesco.org / courier), publishes a special issue under the heading "Language Matters." To see this issue or subscribe to the Courier, please follow the link ***_________________________________*** The issue n°001 of the Academy's Information Bulletin is available. ***_________________________________*** The African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) in charge of preparing, organizing and monitoring rhe regional Conferences on "National Policies: the role of cross-border languages and the place of lesser used languages in Africa, organized with UNESCO, OIF, Swiss Cooperation and other partner's support, the Western African Regional Conference in Bamako (Mali) from 16 to 18 May 2006, and the Central African Regional's in Youndé (Cameroon) from 09 to 11 October 2007 and it itends to organize the Southern and Eastern African Regional Conferences respectively in Johannesburg (South Africa) from 5 to 7 March 2008 and in Dar-Es-Salaam (Tanzania) from 17 to 19 March 2008. Read more... ***_________________________________***

Four decades after the political 'independences' however, the situation of African languages keeps on widening inequalities in the fields of science, technique, and technology. This imbalance between official languages, inherited from colonisation, and African languages, far from facilitating a better sharing of modern knowledge and practices, jeopardises any significant involvement of our populations in the process of decision making on the one hand, and in the improvement of their living conditions on the other. Therefore, our commitment to the ideals of the O.A.U., the pressing call of our people for a quick and more involving access to writing and true democracy, the requirements of an ever lasting sub-regional and regional stability, have imposed upon us the creation of an instrument for the development of our languages, likely to facilitate and reinforce linguistic co-operation between African states and, moreover, to promote the harmonisation and the actual implementation of language policies conform to the aspirations of our working populations. Read more