Metaglossia: The Translation World

The Amazigh in Libya are pinning great hopes on the state-building process currently taking place, especially after having contributed significantly to the revolution of February 17, including the liberation of Tripoli.

The Amazigh thankfully did not wait for the fall of Moamer Kadhafi to take initiatives to revitalise the Tamazight language and culture. While the revolution was advancing, the Amazigh were introducing the Tamazight language and the Tifinagh characters in liberated areas.

After the revolution, they did not wait for the formation of the Ministry of Education to introduce Tamazight in schools. They launched an Amazigh TV channel.

Now is the era of state-building. The most important debate in Libya today is on drafting a new constitution. In such a context, all Libyan Amazigh are working to have Tamazight recognised in the constitution, as was the case in Morocco, which acknowledged Tamazight as an official language of the country.

Ghadamès, known as 'the pearl of the desert', one of the oldest pre-Saharan cities and an outstanding example of a traditional settlement.

A few days ago Libya signed a cooperation agreement with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) at its headquarters in Paris on the establishment of a programme aimed at protecting the cultural heritage in Libya.

Abdelsalem Al-Kalala, the Libyan representative to UNESCO signed on behalf of Libya, with Akio Arata, Director of Cooperation at UNESCO. The agreement aims at developing the technical and institutional capacities for the Libyan Department of Antiquities to promote cultural heritage and its protection in Libya.

The implementation of the programme follows the granting by Italy of €1 million to UNESCO, in order to implement part of the project to finance the programme that targets three sites of the cultural heritage identified by the Department of Antiquities and UNESC, namely, the museums of the city of Tripoli, Bani Walid and Misurata.

The programme involves archeological sites that can be integrated in the development strategies and contributes to give economic activities to populations and communities near the sites.