The conference was timed to coincide with events taking place in preparation for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages proclaimed by the United Nations.
The event was organized by the Union of Translators of Russia (UTR) with the participation of the Russian New University (RosNOU), the National Society of Applied Linguistics, a number of leading Russian and foreign universities, as well as with the information support of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library.
The conference was attended by representatives of 25 regions of the Russian Federation, guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Turkey, Canada and other countries. The participants included linguists, philologists, translation specialists, cultural scientists, writers, active translators, as well as representatives of public organizations, creative unions and authorities of the regions of Russia.
There to give welcoming speeches were: Vice-rector for Research of RosNOU E. Palkin; Director for Information Resources of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library E. Zhabko; Director of the Interuniversity Center for Bilingual and Multicultural Education of the Herzen State Pedagogical University E. Khamraeva; President of the UTR, and Scientific Director of the Institute of Technologies for Humanities of RosNOU O. Ivanova.
A plenary conference report was made by a member of the Board of the UTR, head of the Council for Translation from the Use of the Languages of the Peoples of Russia of the UTR, Professor at Northern (Arctic) Federal University A. Polikarpov, who spoke about the conceptual position of the UTR in relation to the development of translation activities using the languages of the peoples of Russia.
During the conference questions were raised about the status and development of languages of peoples of Russia, prospects of formation of translation work in these languages, the difficulties of translation and exchange of information in different languages. After agreement with all participants, the final document of the conference, reflecting comments, suggestions and recommendations, is planned to be brought to the attention of the authorities.
