TEHRAN –The International Day of Sign Languages is observed annually on September 23 globally to celebrate the richness of sign language culture and highlight the preservation and promotion of the linguistic identity of all deaf people.

This year’s theme “Sign up for Sign Language Rights” encourages global support for the legal recognition of national sign languages.

The UN General Assembly has proclaimed September 23 as the International Day of Sign Languages in order to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf.

The resolution establishing the day acknowledges that early access to sign language and services in sign language, including quality education available in sign language, is vital to the growth and development of the deaf individual and critical to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals.

It recognizes the importance of preserving sign languages as part of linguistic and cultural diversity. It also emphasizes the principle of “nothing about us without us” in terms of working with Deaf communities.

 Approaching the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted in December 2006, let us strive towards a better implementation of the CRPD at the national level through the linguistic human rights of deaf people. 

According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are more than 70 million deaf people worldwide. More than 80 percent of them live in developing countries. Collectively, they use more than 300 different sign languages.

Sign languages are fully fledged natural languages, structurally distinct from the spoken languages.

There is also an international sign language, which is used by deaf people in international meetings and informally when traveling and socializing. It is considered a pidgin form of sign language that is not as complex as natural sign languages and has a limited lexicon.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes and promotes the use of sign languages.

It makes clear that sign languages are equal in status to spoken languages and obligates state parties to facilitate the learning of sign language and promote the linguistic identity of the Deaf community.

The choice of 23 September commemorates the date that the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) was established in 1951.

This day marks the birth of an advocacy organization, which has as one of its main goals, the preservation of sign languages and Deaf culture as pre-requisites to the realization of the human rights of deaf people.

The International Day of Sign Languages was first celebrated in 2018 as part of the International Week of the Deaf.

The International Week of the Deaf was first celebrated in September 1958 and has since evolved into a global movement of Deaf unity and concerted advocacy to raise awareness of the issues deaf people face in their everyday lives.