-as he chairs 194 countries committee
GWERU-ONE OF THE most gifted academics (vutesve) from Masvingo Province, Professor Wiseman Magwa made history by becoming the first Zimbabwean to chair the respected UNESCO Global Task Force Steering Committee of 194 countries on indigenous languages.
Prof Magwa was appointed to chair the recent session of the 194 UNESCO member countries.
He is also the languages professor at the Midlands State University and the focal person on the Global Task Force for indigenous languages in the country following his appointment in March 2024.
“Please join me in celebrating my reappointment into the UNESCO Global Task Force Steering Committee for the year 2025, as shown. The Steering Committee comprises a team of 18 country representatives with a mandate to manage and lead all the 194 UNESCO Member States. Furthermore, I was appointed yesterday to be Co-Chair of the Committee with a responsibility to chair meetings of the Steering Committee and UNESCO Global Meetings to do with Indigenous Languages,” wrote Prof Magwa on his social media handle.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 18 December 2019, set aside the period 2022-2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages and invited UNESCO to serve as the lead agency for the decade.
Subsequently, an international governance mechanism called Global Task Force (GTF) was established to provide strategic direction and oversight in the planning, implementation and monitoring of progress made towards the attainment of the objectives of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL).
The GTF as an international governance mechanism ensures equitable participation of all stakeholders in the International Decade and provides advice and guidance on planning and implementation of the Global Action Plan.
The Task Force has a Steering Committee made up of nineteen (19) representatives from UNESCO Member States.
The Steering Committee is therefore a part of the GTF which provides strategic direction and guidance to the organization of IDIL 2022-2032.
Following the rotation principle among the members of the Steering Committee members are only appointed for a tenure lasting three (3) years.
Zimbabwe as a member of the Steering Committee for the current tenure of three years has appointed Professor Magwa to represent the country as a language expert and focal person in the GTF Steering Committee which has a responsibility to advise at the global level issues to do with goals, objectives and desired outcomes and outputs of the International Decade.
Simply put, the Global Task Force provides strategic direction and oversight in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the Global Action Plan for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
Professor Magwa is the former Executive Director of the Midlands State University National Language Institute and former Vice Chancellor of the Reformed Church University. He is currently the National Spokesperson and Board Member of the Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ) and a member of the National Language Advisory Committee (NALAC).
Magwa has published extensively with a total of 30 books and 102 published articles in journals, magazines and newspapers.
