Recommendations for Practitioners and Next Steps: The Conversation Goes On

The research on which this volume is based was originally stimulated by conversations with practitioners during a workshop held in January 2014 on the theme, ‘Do NGOs need a languages policy?’ At the end of the discussion, practitioners called for some evidence-based research which would raise awareness of these issues and contribute to vital policy change. Whilst the research was taking place, NGO colleagues contributed in an Advisory Group, and in well-attended open workshops. They also commented on ongoing papers from the project, so that the recommendations in the final report, ‘Respecting communities in International Development: languages and cultural understanding’ were directed, as they requested, at raising awareness of languages and stimulating changes in policies and practice. This chapter will outline these recommendations for donors and for INGOs. As writers of this book, we see discussions around the role of languages and cultural understanding in development as part of an important ongoing conversation in the sector, and the chapter will briefly outline what immediate responses there have been to the recommendations since the publication of the report in June 2018, and what directions conversations might conceivably take in the future.