Friday 22nd September 2023

“The legal recognition of national sign languages is an important step towards achieving basic human rights for all deaf people. 60% of State Parties to the CRPD still have not achieved legal recognition of their national sign languages. Legal recognition is a process that allows for greater awareness of deaf people’s linguistic and cultural rights and paves the way for social change. Today, we encourage the sharing of stories of what the legal recognition of sign languages has meant for you and your communities.”

What is the importance of sign language in our lives?
Our sign language is our mother’s language, enabling us to communicate with the surrounding people. It allows them to understand the world through visual descriptions and contribute to society.

As a proud member of the Deaf community in New Zealand, it is vital to acknowledge the long and hard-fought recognition of our language, NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language). Despite being a small minority population, we have received tremendous support from groups such as Te Reo Māori (the Māori language) academia and Tangata Whenua (Māori). On April 6th, 2006, our efforts finally paid off, with the Parliament passing three bills officially recognizing NZSL. This was a monumental achievement, as it established our language as a means to promote and maintain its use. This recognition gave us equal access to government information and services like everyone else. This recognition was a significant step towards ensuring that the Deaf community had equal rights and obligations in using NZSL throughout the legal system.

There are more than 300 sign languages worldwide and 77 legal recognitions of National Sign Language to present.

https://wfdeaf.org/news/the-legal-recognition-of-national-sign-languages/