Central African Republic awards the Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Medaille de la Reconnaissance Centrafricaine (December 2009) During the Central African Republic (CAR) Independence Day celebrations, President François Bozizé awarded two representatives of SIL with the medal of recognition for SIL's partnership with ethnolinguistic minorities in the CAR. Receiving the awards on behalf of SIL-CAR were Director Rolf Buehler and Administrative Assistant Blaise Yangue. Read more about Central African Republic awards the Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Medaille de la Reconnaissance Centrafricaine
Educational policy conference: Three papers (September 2009) An SIL specialist in language and education has convened a themed section at a biennial conference on education and development in Oxford, UK. SIL educators are presenting three papers. The UK Forum on International Education and Training is holding its meeting 15–17 September at New College and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. More than four hundred participants from all over the world include policy makers, administrators, teachers, civil society representatives and researchers from all spheres of education and training. Read more about Educational policy conference: Three papers
UNESCO literacy awards for 2009 announced (2009 August) UNESCO International Literacy Prizes for 2009, with the theme "Literacy and Empowerment," are being awarded to literacy projects in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, India and the Philippines. A program in Bhutan received an Honourable Mention. The award ceremony will take place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris during the observance of International Literacy Day, 8 September. Read more about UNESCO literacy awards for 2009 announced
WOCAL 6—SIL presents 18 papers on African linguistics (August 2009) Eighteen SIL linguists presented papers 17–21 August at the 6th World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL) in Cologne, Germany. The theme of WOCAL 6 was "African Linguistics for Understanding and Progress." One SIL linguist addressed the special forum on African sign languages. Read more about WOCAL 6—SIL presents 18 papers on African linguistics
Sketch grammars for dictionaries: Workshop in Cameroon (August 2009) Linguists representing sixteen African languages are attending a workshop this month conducted by SIL Cameroon in Yaoundé to produce sketch grammars suitable to introduce bilingual or trilingual dictionaries. The UK Kay Williamson Educational Fund (KWEF) will eventually publish several of the dictionaries in which these sketch grammars appear. Read more about Sketch grammars for dictionaries: Workshop in Cameroon