Mother tongues in the age of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic is spreading all over the world, reaching the most remote locations on the planet. Awareness-raising efforts have been made by the World Health Organization (WHO), various international organizations as well as States to stem the spread of the disease.

Thus, all over the world, initiatives are undertaken in particular with :

- Multimedia production (videos, infographics, podcasts) on COVID-19 ;

- Working with health experts for scientific and factual coverage of the pandemic ;

- Audience development using innovative formats, such as offline or interactive communication, to better reach people with reliable information ;

- The development of “fact-checking” in order to provide public authorities with reliable information for better communication on COVID-19.

A large inventory of languages, including the 6 official languages of the United Nations, is therefore used to reach the maximum number of people in order to raise awareness of the disease, the way it is transmitted from one person to another and the means available to limit its spread.

In addition, it was noted that the spread of this pandemic was accompanied by the emergence of an “infodemic” thus pushing the WHO to warn against the circulation of rumors and false information which, in times of health crisis, could worsen an already very critical situation in many countries.

In such circumstances, the use of mother tongues is of paramount importance. Indeed, in different parts of the world, large communities continue to speak their own languages and do not necessarily have access to information when it circulates only through the dominant languages. This does not fail to put these communities in a situation of great vulnerability to the pandemic since their knowledge of the disease and the way it is transmitted is objectively weaker than that of other communities.

In Sweden, for example, it has been found that the rate of infection in the Somali community settled in the country is higher than that in other communities. Specialists have pointed out, among other factors, the lack of sensitization in the Somali language; which prompted the Swedish authorities to launch an information campaign, in several languages, to hopefully limit the spread of the virus among immigrants.

In Algeria, as everywhere in the world, an effort must be made to fill the big void in terms of communication on the Covid-19 via mother tongues, in the Amazigh language in this case.

It is indeed very important to translate the whole range of instructions relating to the disease (written texts, videos, and digital products) in mother tongues in order to effectively control its spread.