Garden City, ID, USA, April 21, 2022 – CLEAR Global has published the Global Language Data Review (GLDR), a resource to help planners develop and implement more linguistically inclusive and accessible programs and services. It includes a story map with an overview of quality language data and its usage, and a dashboard of 88 country profiles alongside language data quality assessments.

The GLDR raises awareness of and helps overcome language barriers that prevent people who speak a marginalized language from accessing programs and services. To listen to, understand, and communicate with communities,  planners need to know what languages are spoken in the places they work. The GLDR shows planners where they can find the best-quality language data for a given country, so they can develop more inclusive, evidence-based programs. The data can inform the entire program cycle, from needs assessments and hiring decisions, to establishing more accurate monitoring and evaluation systems. The GLDR also helps service and program planners evaluate and determine whether they need to supplement the existing language data to ensure nobody is left behind.

“Quality language data can greatly increase organizations’ effectiveness. In northeast Nigeria, for example, adding language questions to the 2019 Multi-Sector Needs Assessment gave organizations accurate, up-to-date, area-level data. It showed that just 31% of people surveyed spoke Hausa as their first language, and 41% couldn’t read it well or at all. So the language data corrected assumptions about which languages were spoken in each area, and improved organizations’ ability to communicate effectively with affected communities.”   

– Jason Symons, Data Solutions Manager at CLEAR Global

CLEAR Global is open to collaboration. If you’d like to work with us on collecting and analyzing language data to inform programs and services contact us at maps@clearglobal.org. To learn more about our language data work, visit clearglobal.org. 

About CLEAR Global
CLEAR Global is a nonprofit helping people get vital information and be heard, whatever language they speak. With innovative language technology solutions, research, and a community of over 80,000 people, CLEAR Global supports partner organizations working in various contexts around the world. CLEAR Global is set to improve global communication and information access for marginalized people.

For media inquiries, contact danielle.moore@clearglobal.org. 

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Download our Global Language Data Review press release here.