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KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Fifty participants representing 15 Caribbean countries plus the United States, United Kingdom and France signed off on the Charter for Language Rights and Policy for the Creole-speaking Caribbean, marking the successful conclusion at of the International Conference on Language Rights and Policy in Kingston.

Over two days, the conference participants deliberated on the final wording of the articles of the document, and have produced the Charter that will now provide the regional framework for resolving the language problems of the Creole-speaking Caribbean.

In describing the way forward for the implementation of the Charter, Professor Hubert Devonish, co-ordinator for the Jamaica Language Unit and conference chairman outlined the three key steps as being:

i. adoption of the charter by governments, the corporate sector and civil society groups.
ii. establishing the Regional Council of Language Policy and Rights
iii. the launch of the Caribbean Creole Language Day and the Caribbean Language Public Appeal.

Adoption of the Charter
Endorsement of the charter will be sought by sharing the charter with local and regional civil society groups and the mass media, telecommunications organizations and the wider corporate community, in particular those who publicly use Creole language in advertising as part of their business activity.

Governments will play the major role in the process of adoption of the charter at a national and regional level. To this end, the policy will be submitted to leaders of government with a view to them submitting the policy for consideration and adoption by their cabinets and/or parliaments as appropriate. At a regional level, an approach will be made for adoption at the level of CARICOM, via its Social Development Unit and by UNESCO.

The Regional Council of Language Rights and Policy
The charter calls for the establishment of a Regional Council on Language Policy and Language Rights which will perform the functions of advocating for the adoption of the charter, provide research support in order to ensure that territories have the detailed knowledge of their own language situation as to allow them to take steps to implement the charter, and monitor the implementation of the charter and any violations which may occur in the territories that have adopted it.

The actual structure of the Council will be decided based on a 3-month consultation. The consultation will be carried out by the Jamaica Language Unit, at the University of the West Indies, Mona, in conjunction with the Society for Caribbean Linguistics (SCL) and including Groupe d’Études et de Recherches en Espace Créolophone et Francophone (GEREC-F), the Creole language research group based in Martinique and Guadeloupe, and any other persons, groups or bodies that have expressed an interest in the charter.

Caribbean Language Day – 24 October 2011
The regional council is to be launched on 28 October 2011 as part of the celebration of Caribbean Creole Language Day to be celebrated in all the Creole-speaking countries of the Caribbean. Linked to this will be a public appeal to contribute to an endowment fund that would finance the work of the regional council.

The International Conference on Language Rights and Policy was organized by the Jamaican Language Unit/Unit for Caribbean Language Research at the University of the West Indies, Mona. The conference was the conclusion of an on-going process of intense debate and discussion by a team of 30 international experts on Caribbean languages.

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Anestine LaFond:
Hopefully this movement is rooted in some research based conferences on these Caribbean Creole Language Days