Tomorrow, ERA ONLUS turns 20. Twenty years of effort and initiatives, in the politcal field as well. The Association for World Linguistic Democracy was born with the aim to defend the linguistic rights and ensure equality in international communication. The organization, with Giorgio Pagano as its secretary, is sensitive to the rights of the minorities, and is aware of the language and culture variety, and has been inististing for some time now, to promote linguistic democracy in current national and international events, in order to protect and conserve the world’s linguistic variety.
For this, the association promotes the International Language, Esperanto, as the tool to guarantee the world’s languages and cultures. ERA’s efforts in defending the freedom and fundamental rights of indigenous and endangered cultures is also to be noted. Various initiatives have been brought forward in this field with the collaboration of the UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization), and with the active participation of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since 2005, from which numerous statements have been released, as well as an Italian translation that is to be published by the Maori researcher, Linda Smith. Recently, ERA participated to the World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD). The congress took place in Rome, organized by FAO and Banca Mondiale. During this congress, the Interparlimental Union took place in the Chamber of Deputies, signed an exclusive congress with François Grin to translate and publish “Rapport sur l’enseignement des langues étrangères comme politique publique" in English, Italian, English and Esperanto.