According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), there are more than 70 million deaf people across the world and 80% of them are from developing countries. Sign language is the language for deaf people.
 |
| First time International Day of Sign Languages was celebrated in 2018 |
Every year September 23 is celebrated as International Day of Sign Languages. It raises awareness about the importance of sign languages. This is the language for deaf people who can't understand the spoken languages.
It helps them in expressing their words, thoughts, feelings and emotions. There is an International sign languages which is used during the global meetings and travelling. This day promotes the sign language which is the language of specially abled people.
Theme of International Day of Sign Languages
The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) declared the theme of 2021- "We Sign for Human Rights" highlighting how each of deaf and hearing people around the world- can work together hand in hand to promote the recognition of their right to use sign languages in all areas of life.
History of International Day of Sign languages
First time this day was celebrated in 2018 as the International Week of Deaf. The United Nations General assembly proclaimed September 23 as International Day of Sign languages, the same date when World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) was established in 1951.
The main purpose of WFD is to preserve the sign languages and deaf culture as pre-requisites to the realisation of the human rights of deaf people.
Significance of this day
According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), there are more than 70 million deaf people across the world and 80% of them are from developing countries. They collectively use more than 300 different sign languages.
Sign language is full-fledged natural languages, structurally different from the spoken languages. In many schools and colleges, sign language is teached as a formal subject.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities recognizes and promotes the use of sign languages. It makes clear that sign languages are equal to spoken languages in status.
0 Comments