Istanbul, 30 July 2015

The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) has recently announced the launch of the Dr Liisa Kauppinen Fund in honour of its Honorary President, Dr Liisa Kauppinen, for her relentless work in advancing the human rights of deaf people.
The proceeds from the fund will go towards conducting sustainable human rights activities undertaken by the WFD such as:
• Data collection on the human rights situation of the Deaf Community
• Production of accessible human rights materials
• Capacity building training with a human rights focus

The fund targets the wider deaf community, especially deaf women.
The main goal of these activities is to empower deaf individuals so that they are aware of their rights and are able to act and exert influence to overcome exclusion.
“It costs roughly 280,000€ to implement a two-year capacity building human rights project in one region consisting of five national Deaf Communities,” the WFD President, Colin Allen said when he was interviewed during the XVII World Congress of the WFD on the aims of the fund.
The announcement of the Liisa Kauppinen Fund was officially made during the Opening Ceremony of the World Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, on 28 July 2015.