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Join IAPBAre you sometimes worried about using the right words to describe a place or group of people? Or annoyed that what is considered the “correct” language seems to continually change?
Do you ever feel the language used by people around you is, at best dated, at worst offensive to or excluding of certain groups? Do you ever feel offended yourself by the language people around you use?
In our efforts as a sector to be as inclusive as possible, and to present eye health as a developmental issue beyond health, the words we use are important. As debates around decolonisation and anti-racism continue to gain momentum, we cannot ignore the power of language.
Many members have their own language guides and principles. Light for the World recently developed a language guide on Decolonisation and Anti-Racism in addition to existing guides on disability and gender.
We wanted to share with other members some of the simple guiding principles we have adopted and examples of inclusive language. This is not because we have all the answers – we know we don’t! But we do believe, by sharing learnings within our sector, we can collectively do better.
The principles shaping our language transformation journey within Light for the World are:
Are there any principles missing you find important? Do you see these principles applied in your organisation? Which ones do you personally find harder to follow?
I once heard someone say: “what has this all got to do with us?”. I know there are some sceptics out there, who would argue that with everything we have to do in our roles as eye health experts, do we really have time to worry about language?
The answer is yes, because as a sector we aim to be inclusive and respectful as we can. That means challenging our language and our perceptions that hide behind the words. To use the words of William Gibson that especially we should understand, “Language is to the mind more than light is to the eye”.
For more information about the power of inclusive language, we recommend the language guides from Oxfam, Bond and Sightsavers, this article from Inclusive Futures, as well as the recent book by Dipo Faloyin Africa Is Not A Country.
If you are interested in Light for the World’s language guides please check them out here. If you have feedback for us, or learnings from your own organisation that you would be willing to share, please email my colleague Robert Kidd, Light for the World’s Global Editor and Advisor, at [email protected].
Image on top: In a crowded room, two people who are standing are in focus, a smiling woman on the left holding a mic, a man on the right is handing to her/Copyright by Kevin Gitonga/Light for the World