Oscar nominated actress and star of the film Roma, who is also UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples, Yalitza Aparicio told the General Assembly on 17 December 2019 that “no boy or girl should grow up ashamed of their roots” and they “should be aware that speaking an indigenous language is a source of pride as it reveals the world from its richest perspective.”
Addressing a high-level event for the closing of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, Aparicio said parents should not “feel forced to forget who they are, where they come from, their roots, or to have to hide their indigenous languages in order to protect their children from a society that discriminates against them, restricts them and which boxes them in terms of their job opportunities and overcoming any barriers.”
She called upon member states “to ensure that actions being carried out in various countries to rescue languages do not end at the end of the year.” Rather, she said, “they should continue for the whole of eternity so that no more of our history is lost.”