As we close the chapter on 2024, we reflect on a year marked by both challenges and triumphs. Despite the challenges, the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) has remained steadfast in its mission to empower deaf people and communities around the world.

Thanks to the generous support of donors, we’ve been able to achieve remarkable milestones this year:

  • Building Capacity Across the Globe: We have empowered deaf people through trainings on human rights, legal recognition of sign languages, deaf women’s access to economic, social and cultural rights and sexual and reproductive rights, among other topics, and had an impact in 25 countries around the world.
  • Putting Deaf People on the Agenda: We had several meetings with government delegates and ambassadors advocating for their legal recognition of sign languages and the support of deaf communities in humanitarian conflicts and natural disasters during the Conference of States Parties at the United Nations in June, the Submit of the Future in September, and the World Data Forum in October. In October, we also participated in the G7 Summit on Inclusion and Disability, meeting with government ministers to champion key advocacy objectives for deaf communities.
  • Realising Nothing Without Us: After months of dedicated support, we proudly celebrated in June the election of Hiroshi Tamon, a deaf candidate from Japan, to the CRPD Committee.
  • Achieving Sign Language Rights for All: Our advocacy led to UNESCO’s recognition of historical documents from the 1880 Milan Congress in the Memory of the World program—an essential step in honouring sign languages and promoting inclusive education against the shadow of oralism and language deprivation for deaf children.
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Despite these achievements, our work is far from complete. As we prepare for 2025, your support is essential if we are to achieve our objectives. Here’s what we aim to accomplish in the coming year:

  • We will continue supporting deaf communities affected by disasters and conflicts as we always have. 
  • The WFD will continue promoting, alongside our national members, the legal recognition of National Sign Languages and the early acquisition of their national sign languages for deaf children worldwide.
  • We are organising the 5th WFD Conference in Kenya, in Africa. Under the theme ‘Advancing sign language rights’, leaders of national deaf associations and deaf women from around the world will join this event to strengthen each other through our ongoing mutual vision.
  • We currently have 137 national associations of deaf people representing local, rural, and marginalised deaf communities, who will ultimately respond to and disseminate a comprehensive survey to gather updated data on their priorities and needs regarding deaf communities and sign languages. Currently, there is scarce data on deaf people who use sign languages. We want to lead citizen data gathering on their needs to improve and strengthen our advocacy strategies in 2025 before governments and decision-makers. 

Your donation, no matter the size, can significantly impact deaf people’s lives. Please consider donating now, and we also invite you to join our legacy donors.

Together, we can build a World Where Deaf People Everywhere Can Sign Anywhere!