What if information on the languages of crisis-affected people was as readily available as data on their age and gender? Translators without Borders have launched a new initiative that allows language data to be accessible for humanitarian purposes:
Through TWB’s work, we have seen that increasing the data focus on language can enable better planning and more effective communication with affected people. Data gives us the capacity to track outcomes for speakers of marginalized languages, enabling us to ensure they are not “left behind” by humanitarian action. Such data should replace existing assumptions and inform better use of limited resources.
That is why we are excited to launch the first openly available language dateset for humanitarian use. In partnership with University College London, we have produced a series of static and dynamic maps and 23 datasets covering nine countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Ukraine, and Zambia.
This is just the beginning of our effort to provide more accessible language data for humanitarian purposes. Our goal is to make language data openly available for every humanitarian crisis, and we can’t do it alone.
We could use your help to:
- Share this data with other colleagues who might be interested in this, and tell us what you think and how we can best integrate it within existing platforms (the datasets are hosted on the Humanitarian Data Exchange).
- Add language-related questions into your ongoing surveys. Over the past year, we have worked with partners like IOM DTM, REACH, WFP, and UNICEF to integrate standard language questions into ongoing surveys. The recent multi-sectoral needs assessment in Nigeria is a good example of how a few language questions can support data-driven humanitarian decisions.
Use this language data to develop community engagement strategies. And do get in touch if you have any questions on how we can improve communication in the languages of affected people
