International Week of Deaf People
2021
International Week of Deaf People 2021
International Day of Sign Languages 2021
#IWDP & #IDSL
International Day of Sign Languages 2021
#IWDP & #IDSL
Theme for 2020:
Celebrating Thriving Deaf Communities
20 to 26 september 2021
The International Week of Deaf People has been celebrated during the last full week of September. This week, we come together to recognise that deaf people have our own communities, our own cultures, our own languages, sign languages, which unite us all.
This year’s theme for the International Week of Deaf People is “Celebrating Thriving Deaf Communities”. Deaf communities have been expanding and thriving throughout the years and giving us all strength, now is the time to celebrate their incredible endurance at the local, national and international level.
This is an important week for the recognition of deaf people, it is vital for deaf communities and deaf organisations. This falls under the key principle, “Nothing about us, without us!”.
Online events
The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) are organising a webinar on 23 September 2021 to celebrate the International Day of Sign Languages. It is gathering a panel of high-level experts from the WFD, UNOG and State-Parties. The purpose of this webinar is to raise awareness and empower States Parties on the importance of sign languages. This webinar also aims to guide States Parties on what they can undertake to achieve and provide sign languages to everyone.
With:
- Dr Joseph J Murray – WFD President
- Ms Shirley Liu – President of the WFD Youth Section
- Mr Robert Nkwangu – Project manager of a WFD project – Uganda
- Dr Amalia Gamios – Vice Chair of the CRPD Committee
- Ambassador Keva Bain of the Bahamas, Chair of the Human Rights Council Task Force on Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities
- Ms. Kira Kruglikova, Director of the Division of Conference Management at UNOG and UNOG Focal Point for Disability Inclusion.
This year the WFD celebrates 70 years on 23 September 2021. Together with ENS, the Italian Deaf Association, an online event will be hosted. Dr Joseph Murray, WFD President and Mr Florjan Rojba, WFD Board Member, will be on site in Rome for the celebrations.
This will be the occasion to unveil the statue of Mr Vittorio Ieralla, the first president of the WFD.
As part of our International Week of Deaf People celebrations, the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is organising a webinar on 25 September 2021 on Deaf art and culture. It will bring together a panel that will share their experience on the topic and highlight deaf artists around the world who will provide short performances in celebration of our Thriving Deaf Communities.
With:
- Dr Joseph Murray – WFD President
- Ms Mindy Drapsa – Riksteatern Crea (Sweden)
- Ms Ayesha Ramjugernath – Socigo (South Africa)
- Mr David de Keyzer – CineSourds & Festival Clin d’Oeil (France)
Daily themes
Deaf communities and our sign languages have existed for several centuries. Today, we take the time to cherish the proud histories of deaf peoples and our thriving communities, and the many people, deaf, codas, allies, who have worked together to enable the flourishing communities found today around the world.
Deaf communities throughout the world have organized into representative associations to advance their human rights. These organizations need funding, capacity building, and empowerment to carry out the principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us”
Support the WFD in our work by donating to our human rights work and by signing our Charter on Sign Language Rights for All!
Acquisition of sign language from birth from fluent sign language models is critical to the cognitive and social development of deaf children. A strong foundational language is necessary to learn other languages. As many deaf children are born into families who are not yet sign language users, services must be in place to provide sign language learning and support to families so that they can become fluent sign language users.
We Sign For Human Rights! On this International Day of Sign Languages, we celebrate our collective efforts- deaf communities, governments, and civil society representatives- to recognize and promote the over 200 different national sign languages around the world. Together we sign onto a declaration of support for sign languages as an essential human right for deaf people, and sign for human rights!
Intersectionality is a framework for understanding how social and political identities combine to create experiences of discrimination and privilege, and can include aspects such as gender, sex, race, disability, sexuality, religion and language. There is an interesting intersectionality for Deaf communities in being both a cultural-language group and members of disability populations. This intersectionality is highlighted in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that outlines disability rights and linguistic and cultural rights for deaf people.
Deaf people regularly come together to share their language and culture. Deaf culture involves the behaviours, traditions, beliefs, values, history, humour, art that exists within Deaf communities. Deaf communities are proud of their linguistic and cultural identity and celebrate that regularly in many different ways.
The past year has shown us new needs and new ways of guaranteeing the well-being of deaf people in situations of crisis. Under the circumstance of different crises, including infectious diseases, climate change, natural disasters, and armed conflict, deaf people all over the world experience language deprivation, socioeconomic disadvantages, and audism. Today, we emphasize the importance of securing and maintaining the human rights of all deaf people during the different, multiple, and overlapping crises
This is the theme for the 19th World’s Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf in 2023.
Take part in IWDP celebrations
Shine a Blue Light on Sign Languages!
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