The World Federation of the Deaf is an international non-governmental organisation representing and promoting approximately 70 million deaf people’s human rights worldwide. Through our advocacy work along with our 136 members that are national deaf organisations, we work towards our vision of a world where deaf people everywhere can sign anywhere. To achieve this vision, the right to sign language for every deaf person must be provided, promoted and fulfilled in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Deaf people are both disability rights holders and members of linguistic and cultural minorities through the use of the more than 200+ different national and Indigenousd sign languages found around the world.
To achieve the right to sign language, the legal recognition of the national sign languages by the States Parties to the UNCRPD must be realized, in tandem with the implementation of Articles implementing its use in all areas of life, contributing thereby to the active participation of deaf people in society.
States Parties shall provide information intended for the general public in the national sign languages of their countries, their official interactions with deaf citizens shall be accessible in the national sign languages, and they shall urge private entities that provide services to the general public, including the mass media, to provide them in the national sign languages.
Approximately 60% of signatories have not yet recognized their national sign languages.
This lack is particularly acute in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies where deaf people are among the most vulnerable due to lack of information and communication in their national sign languages. Deaf people are often the last ones to be informed about the disasters and/or armed conflicts threatening them, and many of them are often often suffer serious injury or loss of life, while not being able to find and/or to call upon the humanitarian assistance entitled to them, as we have seen over the past few months and years.
The World Federation of the Deaf, wish to remind all States Parties to the CRPD of their obligation to consult with and take into account the rights of deaf people, paying heed to intersectional and overlapping discrimination, and to undertake the necessary steps to achieve their right to sign language in times of crises in accordance with the CRPD, the 2015 Sendai Framework, the international humanitarian law and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2475. We call upon States Parties to commit to the full implementation of the Article 21 of the CRPD read conjointly with other articles to achieve our vision of a world where deaf people everywhere can sign anywhere.