The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is delighted to announce and welcome the latest member to our WFD Staff, Daniel Ocampo from Colombia, starting 1 April 2017 until end of January 2018.

Daniel will work as a fellow, in a supportive role in which he will assist our Human Rights Officer in reaching to the WFD Ordinary Members (national associations of the deaf which are members of the WFD) as well as prepare a toolkit in International Sign on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the use of the global Deaf Community.

Other human rights and development organisations have already produced a lot of useful information on these tools, but only in written formats. The International Disability Alliance (IDA) of which the WFD is a member, has also recognised the need for signed and visual materials and is happy to sponsor the fellowship. Daniel, who previously served in the WFD Expert group on Accessibility and Technology (2012-2015) and has several years of experience working with WFD’s Ordinary Member in Colombia, has great potential to become a strong advocate to advance deaf people’s rights globally as well as regionally in South America.