Every Language Matters (ELM) is a global-to-local initiative that turns hard-won country lessons into coordinated public action, building on two years of work through the UNDP Local Language Accelerator. At its core is the Data-to-AI Value Chain, a UNDP framework that addresses barriers to inclusive language AI by showing how value and trust are created between data collection and deployment. Governments, researchers, funders, technology partners, and communities each hold part of the solution. Through this framework, Every Language Matters promotes a sustainable ecosystem of trust and innovation that increases the visibility of promising work, mobilizes investment, and fosters new partnerships. Developed in collaboration with Current AI and UNDP, the Data-to-AI Value Chain recognizes that the spread of AI alone is not a development outcome; rather, it signals that enabling conditions are in place, though not necessarily benefiting the countries and communities where AI is being adopted. Supporting linguistic and cultural diversity is therefore central to strengthening AI agency and advancing the goals of the Every Language Matters initiative.

Namibia is participating in the UNDP Local Language Accelerator through an Otjiherero initiative that provides voice-enabled insurance assistance for farmers. The project responds to the exclusion of under-resourced languages from AI systems. For example, Kuanyama, spoken in Namibia and Angola, receives an average of only 4.15 new AI models annually. By developing locally relevant, voice-based services, the initiative aims to make digital tools more accessible and responsive to the language, culture, and needs of the communities they are designed to serve.