Written question asked by Andrew Percy (Conservative) on Wednesday, 1 December 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 3 December 2021. It was answered by Vicky Ford (Conservative) on Thursday, 9 December 2021 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Papua New Guinea: Languages

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department has spent protecting endangered languages from extinction in Papua New Guinea; and what assessment she has made of the importance to indigenous communities of speaking their native languages and the wider linguistic diversity of that country.

Answer: The UK Government acknowledges the importance of Papua New Guinea's rich cultural and linguistic diversity, with almost 850 spoken languages. In partnership with the Leverhulme Trust and British Library, we are funding a three year project - True Echoes - to connect communities in Papua New Guinea with the earliest recordings of their local languages and song, dating from 1898 to 1918, and to make the archive available online for all, including Papua New Guinea's cultural institutions and future generations.

Secondary information