International Sign (IS) is a pidgin sign language which is used in a variety of different contexts, particularly as an international auxiliary language at meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) congress, in some European Union settings, and at some UN conferences, at events such as the Deaflympics, the Miss & Mister Deaf World, and Eurovision, and informally when travelling and socialising.
The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is an international non-governmental organization that acts as a peak body for national associations of Deaf people, with a focus on deaf people who use sign language and their family and friends. WFD aims to promote the human rights of deaf people worldwide, by working closely with the United Nations and various UN agencies such as the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization. WFD is also a member of the International Disability Alliance (IDA).
Flemish Sign Language is a deaf sign language of Belgium. It is closely related to French Belgian Sign Language, but they are now generally recognized as distinct languages. VGT is estimated to include around 6,000 sign-language users.
The legal recognition of signed languages differs widely. In some jurisdictions, a signed language is recognised as an official language; in others, it has a protected status in certain areas. Although a government may stipulate in its constitution that a "signed language" is recognised, it may fail to specify which signed language; several different signed languages may be commonly used.
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is an organization for the promotion of the rights of deaf people in the United States. NAD was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1880 as a non-profit organization run by Deaf people to advocate for deaf rights, its first president being Robert P. McGregor of Ohio. It includes associations from all 50 states and Washington, DC, and is the US member of the World Federation of the Deaf, which has over 120 national associations of Deaf people as members. It has its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The European Union of the Deaf (EUD) is a supraorganization comprising each respective National Association of the Deaf of the member states of the European Union. The EUD is a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 and is a Regional Co-operating Member of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), a full member of the European Disability Forum (EDF) and has a participatory status with the Council of Europe (CoE). Ten countries were present at this meeting. During the assembly of October 10, 1994, the delegates of the deaf associations in Europe voted for a change of name: ECRS was thus replaced by the European Union of the Deaf (EUD).
Ukrainian Sign Language (USL) (Ukrainian: Українська жестова мова (УЖМ)) is the sign language of the deaf community of Ukraine. Ukrainian Sign Language belongs to the family of French sign languages. Worldwide awareness of Ukrainian Sign Language rose sharply in 2014 after the release of a Ukrainian film The Tribe, where actors communicated in Ukrainian Sign Language with no spoken dialogue.
Emirati Sign Language is a unified sign language for the deaf community in the UAE.
The Italian National Agency for the protection and assistance of the Deaf (ENS) is an Italian non-governmental organization that acts as a peak body for national associations of Deaf people, with a focus on Deaf people who use sign language and their family and friends. ENS aims to promote the Human Rights of Deaf Italians, by working closely with Italy. ENS is also a member of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and European Union of the Deaf.
Braam Jordaan is a South African entrepreneur, filmmaker, animator, and activist. He is an advocate for Sign Language and human rights of Deaf people, and a board member of the World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section. In 2009, Jordaan collaborated with the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf and Marblemedia on the first children's animated dictionary of American Sign Language, which allows deaf children to look up words in their own primary language of ASL along with the English counterpart. The dictionary allows both deaf children and their hearing parents to learn sign language together.
Reliable information about disability in North Korea, like other information about social conditions in the country, is difficult to find. As of 2016, North Korea is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Humberto Insolera is a deaf Italian politician, academic and advocate for the deaf and people with disabilities.
Shirly Pinto is an Israeli Deaf social-political activist, who served as Member of Knesset for National Unity.
International Week of the Deaf (IWDeaf) is celebrated annually across the world during the last full week of September since 2009. In 2018, it was celebrated together with the official International Day of Sign Languages, declared by the United Nations (UN), for the first time.The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), its national associations, and their affiliates all over the world observe International Week of the Deaf from Monday through Sunday, culminating in International Day of the Deaf on the final Sunday of the week.
Liisa Kauppinen is a Finnish human rights activist who lost her hearing as a child. After serving as executive director of the Finnish Association of the Deaf, in 1995 she became the first woman to be appointed President of the World Federation of the Deaf. She has contributed internationally to opportunities for women with disabilities while promoting the use of sign languages in connection with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2013, she was awarded the United Nations Human Rights Prize, the first Finn to receive the award. In 2015 the WFD established the Dr. Liisa Kauppinen Fund to honour her contributions and to fund activities focused on the empowerment of deaf girls and women. In 2019 she was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Light of the World Group.
Shaylee Ava Mansfield is an American actress. Mansfield, who is deaf, first gained recognition by making YouTube videos in which she told Christmas stories in American Sign Language. Mansfield appeared in an "Unforgettable Stories" video advertisement by Disney Parks, in which she met Minnie Mouse, who was learning sign language at Walt Disney World. The video quickly went viral and became one of Disney's most-watched advertisements.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a population of about 1.4 million deaf people out of a total population of about 86.7 million. The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are one of the more greatly affected regions by hard-of-hearing complications, compared to the rest of the world. Deaf people in the DRC are subject to neglect and discrimination by their families and the government, but they are also met with small, various ways of support and charity through international, European, Australian, and American religious, non-religious, and governmental organizations.
South Korea's Deaf population began to come to prominence in recorded history in the late 19th century with the implementation of special education. Since then, they have gained government recognition and legal rights.
Deafness in Thailand refers to the population and culture of Deaf Hard of Hearing people in Thailand. Deafness in Thailand includes language emergence, organizations, healthcare, employment, schooling, and civil rights.
The Deaf flag is a flag that symbolises the Deaf community, and is used as a form of visibility for a socio-cultural minority that is often discriminated against in various areas.
