THE AFRO-CREOLE LANGUAGES DECLARATION
Afro-Creole Languages Week is supported by the Afro-Creole Languages Declaration, a policy-grounded statement of principles calling on the African Union, CARICOM, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, and the United Nations to formally recognise Afro-Creole languages as Africa’s extended linguistic heritage and sovereign knowledge systems.
The Declaration draws directly from the AU’s Agenda 2063, the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance, the OAU Language Plan of Action for Africa, the Harare Declaration, the mandate of the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society, the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Accra Proclamation on Reparations, and the Addis Ababa Declaration on Transcontinental Partnership for Reparatory Justice.
The Declaration calls for:
The extension of the AU’s language policy frameworks to encompass Afro-Creole languages of the diaspora, recognising that Africa’s linguistic heritage does not end at the continent’ s borders.
The establishment of a Joint AU-CARICOM Working Group on Afro-Creole Languages, operationalising the transcontinental partnership framework called for in the Accra Proclamation and the Addis Ababa Declaration.
The inclusion of linguistic rights in the draft UN Declaration on the promotion, protection, and full respect of the human rights of people of African descent, currently being developed through the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.
The integration of Afro-Creole language recognition into the AU Decade on Reparations (2026–2036) and the UN Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034).
Investment in bilingual education, digital infrastructure, and creative industries in Afro-Creole languages.
A commitment to non-discrimination against Afro-Creole language speakers in education, employment, governance, and public life.
