International Day of Sign Languages

Sign language is a visual form of communication that uses hand gestures, body language, and facial expressions to convey meaning. Similar to spoken languages, and unlike general assumption, sign languages are not universal and vary from country to country. In fact, there are over 300 different sign languages in use around the world. Despite these variations sign languages share some common features : space is commonly used to convey information about distance and direction. Additionally, sign languages typically have their own grammar and syntax, which can be quite different from spoken languages. The United Nations recognizes  The importance of sign language and has made efforts to Promote the use of sign languages internationally . The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed September 23rd as International Day of Sign Languages to help raise awareness about sign language and the rights of deaf people. On this day, events are held worldwide to celebrate sign langua...

Join us on Tuesday, 23 September at the Palais des Nations for a vibrant celebration of the International Day of Sign Languages 2025 . Organized by UNOG in collaboration with the Permanent Missions of Cuba and the Dominican Republic, this in-person event is open to the public. External visitors must  register via Indico. Sign Language Pop-up Café :  Start the afternoon at the Salon Suisse between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. with tea, coffee and cookies, on the house! Even better: learn how to order your refreshments in sign language and practice your new skills right away. Official Opening & Interventions : The event will be inaugurated by Kira Kruglikova, Director of Administration and Focal Point for Disability Inclusion at UNOG, followed by interventions from the Permanent Missions to highlight the importance of sign language rights across the world . Come celebrate, connect, and discover The power of sign languages in making human rights a reality for all at UN GENEVA, ...

As the Australian Deaf community celebrate its National Week of Deaf People from 22 to 28 September to honour Deaf culture, language, and achievements; they partnered with several landmarks to shine in blue light. This is a global initiative showing solidarity with Deaf communities and reminds us that there are no human rights without sign language rights. Share your photos with us and join the movement for sign language rights everywhere!

ILLUMATIONS: Following the success of the first Shine a blue light on Sign Languages, the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is continuing the Blue Light for Sign Languages this year, aiming to highlight the unity brought by the shared experience of national sign languages. This International Day of Sign Languages 2023 event aims to unite the world, its citizens, communities and societies through the blue light. We invite all public places, public landmarks and official buildings, Presidential houses, County buildings, City Halls, and others to be spotlighted in blue light on 23 September 2024. By highlighting the blue colour on their buildings and landmarks is a reaffirmation of our joint commitment to supporting national sign languages and showing solidarity with global deaf communities . Together, we can achieve human rights and a more equal society via the use of national sign languages in all areas of life. The WFD encourages its 135 Ordinary Members, national associations of d...

FORUM : “ Sign up for Sign Language Rights. ”. International Day of Sign Languages 2024 . According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are more than 70 million deaf people worldwide. More than 80% of them live in developing countries. Collectively, they use more than 300 different sign languages As we approach 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. Sign up for sign language rights by working with your local and national associations to announce the achievement of a concrete goal for deaf communities today. Deaf communities, governments and civil society organisations continue their collective efforts - hand in hand - to foster, promote and recognize national sign languages as part of their countries’ vibrant and diverse linguistic landscapes. The Blue Light Challenge i...

The choice of September 23rd commemorates the date that the World Federation of the Deaf was established in 1951. This day marks the birth of an advocacy organisation, which has as one of its main goals, the preservation of sign languages and deaf culture as pre-requisites to the realisation of the human rights of deaf people. 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 travelling 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 International Day of Sign Languages is an unique opportunity to support and protect the linguistic identity and cultural diversity of all deaf people and other sign language users.

  For the International Day of Sign Languages 2022 ( September 23rd ), UN Geneva, in partnership with the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and others, hosted a high-level panel discussion under the theme "Sign Languages Unite Us!" at the Palais des Nations, featuring UN officials, WFD experts, and Member State representatives to promote awareness, linguistic diversity, and human rights for Deaf communities , including discussions on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

  The study of sign language  provides a natural laboratory for isolating certain fundamental properties of human language apart from the modality in which it is transmitted. Doing so has confirmed the existence of purported language universals, such as a systematic sub-word level of structure , syntactic embedding and recursion , and particular types of complex word formation. It has also strengthened the claim that the acquisition of language by children is a natural and automatic process with a set timetable, pointing to some degree of genetic predisposition for the development of just such a system. Certain modality specific characteristics have also been found: a tendency for simultaneous layering of linguistic structure and particular types of grammatical constructions that are at once linguistic in the formal sense, and in some way iconic. 

  The discovery of these sign language properties brings to light observations about spoken language that seem to be determined by the modality alone, such as the tendency to string linguistic information out linearly, and the generally arbitrary nature of the lexicon and grammar. Before research on sign language, such characteristics were thought to be properties of language universally.  In the light of sign language research, we may suggest that these properties are artefacts of the oral–aural modality. Our work is cut out for us. An important goal of future research must be to develop models of language that explain the clustering of characteristics found in sign languages , as well as the fact that they conform to more general linguistic universals . In developing such models, we are charged with an equally important task: explaining precisely what it is about the spoken language modality that makes it different from sign language. Only by examining these two natural ...

The United Nations General Assembly  have adopted the  Resolution /RES/72/161 in December 2017, which proclaim September 23rd as International Day of Sign Languages by  Recognizing sign languages as fully fledged natural languages crucial for deaf people's human rights, development, and cultural diversity , emphasizing early access to sign language and " nothing about us without us" . This resolution, spearheaded by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and supported by 97 member states, aims to Raise awareness and promote inclusion for deaf communities globally.