International Week of Deaf People (IWDP) is annually observed across the globe during the last full week of September and concludes on the final Sunday of September. The IWDP week raises awareness about the rights of people who are deaf or hard of hearing/hearing impaired.
- The IWPD 2023 is observed from 18 to 24 September 2023.
The IWDP 2022 was observed from 19 to 25 September 2022 and the IWDP 2024 will be observed from 23 to 29 September 2024.
- The theme for IWDP 2023 is “A World Where Deaf People Everywhere Can Sign Anywhere!”.
Objective:
IWDP aims to call for unity from the rest of the world through consistent, coordinated, and widespread mobilisation to ensure that the campaigns are visible through sufficient media coverage.
Background:
i.The International Week of Deaf People (IWDP) is an initiative that was first launched by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) in 1958 in Rome, Italy.
ii.It is celebrated annually by the global Deaf Community on the last week of September to commemorate the same month (23 September 1951), the first World Congress of the WFD was held.
iii.Each year the WFD promotes awareness of human rights and sign language of the respective Deaf Communities worldwide by hosting a variety of events around the globe.
International Day of Sign Language (IDSL):
i.The United Nations (UN) IDSL is annually observed across the globe on 23rd September.
ii.IDSL was proposed by the WFD and it is a part of the observance of IWDP.
Note: WFD will celebrate the 2023 IDSL by highlighting their 200+ National sign languages.
Daily themes of IWDP 2023:
| Date | Theme |
|---|---|
| 18 September (Monday) | Declaration on the Rights of Deaf Children |
| 19 September (Tuesday) | Building Capacity Across the Globe |
| 20 September (Wednesday) | Realising “Nothing Without Us” |
| 21 September (Thursday) | Putting Deaf People on the Agenda |
| 22 September (Friday) | Achieving Sign Language Rights for All |
| 23 September (Saturday) | International Day of Sign Languages: A World Where Deaf People Everywhere Can Sign Anywhere |
| 24 September (Sunday) | Building Inclusive Deaf Communities |
Declaration on the Rights of Deaf Children:
i.The members of WFD approved the Declaration on the Rights of Deaf Children at the WFD’s XXI General Assembly in South Korea, in July 2023.
ii.This declaration contains 10 articles proclaiming the rights of all deaf children around the world.
iii.This declaration is an essential tool for promoting the rights of deaf children.
- Declaration on the Rights of Deaf Children was one of the daily themes (18 September) of IWDP 2023.
Communication Supports of Hearing Impaired:
People who are hearing impaired use many communication supports to access audio information. They also use these supports to interact with others. Some of the supports are:
- Sign Language (with interpretation for communicating with non-signers)
- Video Relay Service (VRS)
- Teletypewriter (TTY) technology
- Real-Time Captioning (RTC) for live events
- Closed captioning (for TV or movies)
About World Federation of the Deaf (WFD):
WFD is an international non-governmental organization representing Deaf people worldwide. It is a federation of deaf organisations from 135 nations.
President– Dr Joseph J. Murray
Headquarters– Helsinki, Finland
Founded on– 23 September 1951
