The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Kasper Bergmann from Denmark as WFD’s Human Rights Officer starting on 1 December 2015 for a period of 11 months. He will continue the successful work undertaken by Ms Eeva Tupi since the beginning of the human rights project in March 2013 which aims at providing support to WFD’s ordinary members in monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) at the national level and contributing to parallel reporting to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee). Until now, the WFD has trained national deaf associations in El Salvador, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Dominican Republic, Serbia and Colombia on human rights with special focus on supporting deaf people in bringing forward to the CRPD Committee concerns and priorities of national deaf communities.

“I am enthusiastic of this opportunity to transfer my experience and knowledge to the leaders of deaf associations whose countries are under review by the CRPD Committee. I was involved in Denmark’s parallel reporting process last year, and I also worked as the WFD Project Coordinator in a human rights and capacity building project in 2009-2012 targeted at the Western and Central Africa, and I am now grateful that the WFD has the possibility to extend such important activities to other parts of the world too”,

mentioned Mr Bergmann while being asked of his feelings during an induction training at the WFD office in November.
Mr Bergmann was recently elected to the WFD Board at the XIX General Assembly in July 2015 but has applied for a Leave of Absence from the WFD Board during his term as the Human Rights Officer. When Ms Tupi returns from her maternity leave at the end of 2016 Mr Bergmann will return to the WFD Board