THE AFAR LANGUAGE

DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

 

 

Resolutions

 

 

 

A conference was held in Uppsala, Sweden, between the 21st and 25th of May 2007. It was attended by delegates from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and a few European countries.

 

The agenda of the conference comprised 4 issues, namely:

 

1.     The present stage of development

2.     Difficulties encountered thus-far

3.     Questions that remain unresolved

4.     Future development envisaged

 

The first 3 items on the agenda required extensive discussion and deliberation. The delegates also spent considerable time discussing the Afar script in retrospect. It was made evidently clear that Arabic, Latin and invented scripts are being used. Each of these three scripts is applied in different manners.

 

Although, with the march of time, the Latin script has come to gain the upper hand in the three countries. It still remains, however, a difference of 3 letters, which are used for similar sounds in Djibouti and Ethiopia, but which are used differently in Eritrea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a thorough and all-round debate and discussion, the Conference on the Development of the Afar Language passed the following 4 resolutions:

 

1.     The difference on the three letters must sooner or later be resolved and hence the alphabet will be one and the same for the Afar language.

2.     Institutes and centres working on Afar language development should exchange and share their achievements and experiences.

3.     All Afar intellectuals and expertises should contribute to the research and development of the Afar language.

4.     A yearly conference on the development of the Afar language should be held where it seems fit.

 

Finally, those who have gathered at this vital and valuable conference both in their own names and as representatives of the Afar people wish to render heartfelt thanks to the Afar Friends in Sweden, SIDA, ABF i Uppsala län and Forum Syd for organising and making this important conference possible.

 

Uppsala, 25th of May 2007

Afar Friends in Sweden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afar friends in Sweden is a licensed international non governmental Organization. Its mission is to inform the international community about the plight of the Afar people in the Horn of Africa. We also provide expertise, knowledge, and Support for the development of programs dedicated to helping the Afar people fight the war against illiteracy, bad traditions (female extension), drugs (khat), water shortage, drought, diseases etc.

Please do not hesitate to visit our website for more information.