10 Jun 2008

New foundation seeks to preserve rare Vanuatu language

9:27 am on 10 June 2008

France's former president, Jacques Chirac, has launched his new foundation,which will support projects aimed at promoting sustainable development and cultural diversity, with a special focus on languages and cultures threatened with extinction.

One of its first projects will be a programme to preserve what is left of the Araki language, now spoken by only eight people on one island in Vanuatu.