Washington, 23 September 2021 (TDI): United Nations (UN) is celebrating International Day of Sign Languages today by encouraging people to support and protect linguistic identity. The UN encouraged and supported the cultural diversity of all deaf people and other sign language users as well.
Today, the UN shared a number of tweets to celebrate this special occasion. One of the tweets explains that “there are more than 70 million people deaf people globally. Out of 70+ million people, 80% live in developing countries. Furthermore, there are more than 300 different sign languages used by these people collectively”.
In the tweets, the UN shared a link to the report that says “We Sign for Human Rights”. This is a theme of The International Day of Sign Languages which is declared by the World Federation of the Deaf. It highlighted how everyone, either deaf or hearing people, can globally work together to support the recognition of the right to use sign languages in every aspect of life.
Furthermore, in this report, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which promotes the recognition and support of sign language users makes clear that everyone has to respect sign language users because all are equal in status as to spoken languages.
However, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has declared 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages. This day is declared to create awareness of the importance of sign language.
According to the report, “the resolution was established on this day to acknowledge the early access to sign language and also provide a number of services in sign languages. The services include quality education for the growth and development of deaf people”.
