{"id":896,"date":"2026-03-17T15:34:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acalanau.org\/?post_type=news&#038;p=896"},"modified":"2026-03-17T15:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:36:36","slug":"why-african-languages-underfunded-despite-youth-charter","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/acalanau.org\/fr\/news\/why-african-languages-underfunded-despite-youth-charter\/","title":{"rendered":"African Union Institutions Must Rethink Their Approach to African Languages"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;<strong>African Youth Charter<\/strong>&nbsp;is clear about the importance of African languages. Yet, across the continent, these languages remain underfunded and underused in development systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First,&nbsp;<strong>Article 20(1)(f)<\/strong>&nbsp;commits member states to strengthen the teaching of African languages in both formal and non-formal education. The goal is simple. African languages should support economic, social, political and cultural development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Second,&nbsp;<strong>Article 2(3)<\/strong>&nbsp;recognizes the right of young people from linguistic communities to speak their languages and enjoy their cultures. Language, therefore, is not only a cultural matter. It is a right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Third,&nbsp;<strong>Article 13<\/strong>&nbsp;calls for education systems that promote African identity, creativity and cultural values. These goals cannot be achieved without African languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, a difficult question remains. If the Charter is so clear, why are African languages still weakly funded?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many cases, the responsibility seems to fall almost entirely on the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN). Yet language development is not a single-institution issue. It is a continental priority that should involve the entire African Union system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, how can the African Union Commission drive&nbsp;<strong>Agenda 2063<\/strong>&nbsp;if the linguistic foundations of learning and knowledge remain marginal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, how can the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) promote development and innovation when millions of Africans still lack access to knowledge in languages they understand?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same question applies to the Pan-African Parliament and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat. Representation, trade, and integration all depend on communication that citizens and markets can understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ultimately, African languages are not only about culture. They support education, knowledge production, democratic participation, and economic inclusion. They also shape Africa\u2019s digital future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In short,&nbsp;<strong>African languages are a development infrastructure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The African Youth Charter recognized this long ago. Yet a charter without resources remains only a promise on paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Therefore, the real question is simple. When will the African Union system invest in African languages with the seriousness that its own Charter demands?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">source: Cyrille Sandeu<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":898,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-896","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>African Union Institutions Must Rethink Their Approach to African Languages - The African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) Website<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The African Youth Charter makes a strong case for African languages. 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