BARBARA SOUKUP LANGUAGE NEWS IN REVIEW: UNESCO AND THE QUEST FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY (Received 25 January 2006; accepted in revised form 12 February 2006) ABSTRACT. This article analyzes recent news-making initiatives by UNESCO and their implications for language policy on the international level. In particular, I focus on two conventions relevant to language policy-making, the ÔConvention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural ExpressionsÕ (approved October 2005), and the ÔConvention for the Safeguarding of Intangible HeritageÕ (which entered into force in April 2006). The adoption of the former was preceded by a widely publicized controversy regarding the status of cultural activities and goods in relation to international trade agreements and protectionism. The latter is a complement to the UNESCO World Heritage program that provides for a similar listmaking of expressions of intangible heritage (including oral traditions). I discuss both conventions in the light of media response and analyze their potential for driving language policy in Member States; and I conclude with a brief description of other UNESCO efforts at shaping language politics. KEY WORDS: language news, linguistic diversity, language policy, UNESCO When German president Horst Ko¨hler, addressing UNESCOÕs General Conference in October 2005 during a special session celebrating the 60th anniversary of the organization, spoke of the value of cultural diversity ‘‘for the well-being of the international community,’’ and denounced ‘‘cultural imperialism’’ (Agence France Press-German, 2005a), he was not simply adding another voice to the stream of discourses about the ‘‘new ethic’’ of cultural diversity that have begun to dominate UNESCO activity in the 21st century. 1 Emphasizing that ‘‘cultural diversity is important for individuals, it helps them find their place in the world and enables them to engage the world and have the inner strength and composure to set out into 1 See homepage of the UNESCO Culture Sector, Cultural Diversity Section: http:// www.unesco.org/culture/diversity. For a critique of the application of (bio)diversity metaphors to language see Pennycook (2004). Language Policy (2006) 5: 209–218 Ó Springer 2006 DOI 10.1007/s10993-006-9003-x