The socio-political situation of Kurdish in the Middle East has been largely unfavourable for the development of a standard language and related prestige. This, in turn, led the members of the Kurdish diaspora in European countries to take charge of the issues of language policy and planning of their language without relying on governmental support. As examples of diasporic language planning achievements, I will describe and discuss two initiatives based in France and Sweden respectively. With their contributions they have been providing work that is normally carried out by language academies – i.e., institutions with state support. In the case of a people without a state, the task of standardising and promoting a language is even more complex. My paper will provide some insight into this huge enterprise.