World Federation of the Deaf

he World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is an international non-governmental organisation representing and promoting approximately 70 million deaf people's human rights worldwide. The WFD is a federation of deaf organisations from 134 nations; its mission is to promote the human rights of deaf people and full, quality and equal access to all spheres of life, including self-determination, sign language, education, employment and community life. WFD has a consultative status in the United Nations and is a founding member of International Disability Alliance (IDA). At its recent World Congress in Jeju, South Korea, WFD members (136) approved the WFD strategic direction 2023-2030 and Action P... read more he World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is an international non-governmental organisation representing and promoting approximately 70 million deaf people's human rights worldwide. The WFD is a federation of deaf organisations from 134 nations; its mission is to promote the human rights of deaf people and full, quality and equal access to all spheres of life, including self-determination, sign language, education, employment and community life. WFD has a consultative status in the United Nations and is a founding member of International Disability Alliance (IDA). At its recent World Congress in Jeju, South Korea, WFD members (136) approved the WFD strategic direction 2023-2030 and Action Plan 2023-2027. Important themes are covered in these 2 documents which strive to ensure that we create access for all deaf people to all ways of life in "a world where deaf people everywhere can sign anywhere" (vision). Furthermore, our mission is to work towards the full realisation of linguistic rights and human rights in all areas of life, with full recognition and implementation of these rights across local, national and international levels. To realise our mission and vision, the following are part of our Action Plan 2023-2027: Building Capacity across the Globe: ensuring increased participation of women, youth and underrepresented communities; provide effective capacity building projects to countries who are not yet members to assist them with creating their own national deaf associations so that they can represent themselves in their countries; Putting Deaf people on the Agenda: the WFD will continue to strive to put deaf human rights at the forefront of all representation internationally, including at the UN; we will effectively promote International Week of Deaf people and be ready to response to deaf people's needs in times of crises, disasters and war. Realising nothing about us without us: the WFD continues to be the leading authority for deaf people and sign languages and has committed to developing resources to assist deaf people raise awareness in their countries. Achieving Sign Language Rights for all: National sign languages are fundamental to achieving deaf people's human rights. We will aim to assist our member states in promoting the legal recognition of signed language in the country and advocate for early childhood language acquisition and inclusive multilingual education policies. Investing in a strong and sustainable organisation: to carry out our mission and vision we need greater investment in our secretariat and regional secretariat, expand our donor base, increase visibility and fundraising activities so that our organisation can carry on its important global work.