International Day of Sign Languages 2022:- According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), there are more than 70 million deaf people across the world and more than 80% of them are from developing countries.
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. International sign languages are also used during the global meetings and travelling. This day promotes the sign language which is the language of specially abled people.
International Day of Sign Languages 2022:- Theme
The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) declared a particular theme every year on this day. The theme of International Day of Sign Languages 2022 is “Sign Languages Unite Us!” This theme highlights the importance of sign languages that it helps in uniting all of us.
International Day of Sign Languages 2022:- History
First time this day was celebrated in 2018 as a part of the International Week of the 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.
International Day of Sign Languages 2022:- Significance
According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), there are more than 70 million deaf people across the world and more than 80% of them are from developing countries. They collectively use more than 300 different sign languages.
Sign languages are full-fledged natural languages, structurally different from the spoken languages. In many schools and colleges, sign language is taught 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 the sign languages are equal to spoken languages in status.
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