International Week of Deaf People

Around the world, millions of deaf people still lack access to basic human rights.  The WFD has inaugurated a 60 Country Project with the aim of building capacities in deaf communities across the globe, particularly in the 60+ UN Member States which do not have national associations of deaf people.  Join us in supporting deaf communities in these countries by hosting awareness-raising events on deaf lives around the world in your local communities, by supporting deaf communities in the global south, and by donating to the WFD’s work

Deaf communities are experts on deaf lives.  CRPD Article 4.3 makes it clear that governments have an obligation to consult with organisations of deaf people on all matters related to deaf people.  The WFD believes that this principle is also applicable to other projects and activities. Representative deaf organisations must be involved from the beginning in all projects and initiatives  to do with deaf people and sign languages. On this day, highlight your collaboration with deaf communities!

Link to Position Paper on the primacy of deaf people in the development and teaching of national sign languages:

Deaf communities worldwide work to ensure policies and programs reflect the lived realities of deaf people’s lives. Today we call upon national governments, international institutions, research centres, and policymaking bodies to centre deaf people in their work. There is still a significant lack of data on deaf people’s lives and less on the right to use national sign languages. Today we highlight the research done on deaf lives to date and call for more disaggregated data collection and monitoring of deaf people and sign languages.

The legal recognition of national sign languages is an important step towards achieving basic human rights for all deaf people. 60% of State Parties to the CRPD still have not achieved legal recognition of their national sign languages. Legal recognition is a process that allows for greater awareness of deaf people’s linguistic and cultural rights and paves the way for social change. Today, we encourage the sharing of stories of what the legal recognition of sign languages has meant for you and your communities.

Today, we share the WFD’s vision of a world where deaf people everywhere can sign anywhere. A world where deaf people are seen as a part of the natural range of human diversity, and national sign languages are celebrated and used everywhere as part of national societies. The WFD calls upon all governments to take measures to ensure at least 50% of their children and youth know their national sign languages, as a step towards building societies in which deaf people everywhere can sign anywhere.

We end this International Week of Deaf People by highlighting the many ways in which our communities represent the broad array of diverse human experiences to be found across the globe. Deaf people are everywhere, and represented in every national, cultural, linguistic and ethnic group. This is a strength of our communities. Today, the WFD calls upon our deaf communities to recognize and take specific actions to ensure our communities are inclusive of all deaf people.