WWFD F D NEEWSLETTERWSLETTER NEWSLETTER OF THE WORLD FEDERATION OF THE DEAF DECEMBER 2011 World Federation of the Deaf would like to thank you for your cooperation and wishes you happy holidays, and all the best for the coming new year! AN INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION WITH1 A SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS IN THE UNITED NATIONS We welcome all news, articles, letters to the editor, and other contributions. We reserve the right of acceptance or rejection and the right to edit all submissions that we publish. Please send all correspondence to: World Federation of the Deaf PO Box 65 00401 Helsinki Finland E-mail: [email protected] CONTENTS Layout Anja Hurtamo WFD, the World Federation of the Deaf, is an umbrella organisation providing a wide 3 PRESIDENT'S COLUMN range of support and advocacy services 5 NEWS FROM THE WFD for national Deaf associations. The World 6 INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF THE DEAF Federation of the Deaf (WFD) was estab- 10 WFD YOUTH SECTION lished in 1951 in Rome, Italy during the 12 INTERNATIONAL NEWS fi rst Deaf World Congress. As an interna- 16 NEWS FROM WFD MEMBERS AND PARTNERS tional non-governmental organisation, it has a special consultative status in the Unit- 23 ITEMS OF INTEREST ed Nations (UN) system, where it is repre- 24 BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS sented at the Economic and Social Coun- 25 WFD MERCHANDISE cil (ECOSOC); the Educational Scientifi c 26 COMING EVENTS and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the International Labour Organization (ILO); and World Health Organization (WHO). It also has participatory status with the Council of Europe (CoE). WFD currently has 133 national associations of the Deaf as its members. WFD provides a platform for cooperation and information exchange among its members and partners. As an international organisation and through na- tional organisations, WFD is emphasizing on improving the human rights for Deaf persons, the status of national sign lan- guages, better education for Deaf people, Front cover: and improved access to information tech- Photos from 2011 nology and services. 2 PRESIDENT´SPRESIDENT´S COLUMNCOLUMN Welcome to the WFD Newsletter. I am glad to be able I attended the International Congress of the to provide you with an overview of news of my last International Committee of Sports for the Deaf three months’ activity as WFD President. (ICSD) in Rome, Italy, as an invited guest of the ICSD President Craig Crowley. As two international The months of September and October were very busy organisations we are interested to develop a partnership for everyone around the world as we celebrated the to collaborate for the benefi t of deaf people who play International Week of Deaf People and National Weeks sports. This would help us to achieve more towards of Deaf People. This newsletter has many articles with United Nations Convention Rights of Persons with insight into events and celebrations around the world Disabilities (UN CRPD) Article 30 (Participation in where countries focussed on deaf people’s rights in cultural life, recreation leisure and sport) on the rights Sign Language, Accessibility, Education, Employment of deaf people to access sport. and Social Life. I was also busy in my home country Australia; I was invited to give a presentation at a During my visit in Rome, I had the pleasure of a lunch breakfast meeting hosted by the Western Australian meeting with the newly appointed President of Ente Association of the Deaf and also gave talks at Deaf Nazionale Sordi (ENS), Mr. Guiseppe Petrucci. We Schools in Perth and Melbourne. I gave a presentation discussed how the WFD and ENS can work together to at VicDeaf ’s Annual General Meeting in Melbourne to fi nalise the arrangements for the WFD History Archives. increase understanding of WFD’s work and our aims We are very much looking forward to completing this for many partnerships in the global work for deaf project together successfully. people and Deaf Communities. In November, the WFD Board met for its 99th Board Meeting in Al, Norway, hosted by the Al Folkehoyskole and the Norwegian Federation of the Deaf. This meeting was longer than usual because most of the WFD board members were newly elected at the last General Assembly in South Africa. We were very fortunate to have the WFD Honorary President Mr Markku Jokinen who gave a brilliant and exceptional workshop about the work that WFD has done at the international level with agencies such as the United Nations, the International Disability Alliance, UNICEF, UNESCO, ILO, WHO Photo: Colin Allen and with each national association of the deaf working Colin with Western Australian Association of the Deaf on the ground around the world. This workshop Board, Perth was not just for WFD Board members, but also for members of the WFD Youth Section as both the WFD Board and the WFD Youth Section (WFDYS) will work together on the priority issues for the next four years leading up to July 2015 when the XVII WFD World Congress will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: Colin Allen Drawing of the system in networking with different partners, Training Day, Ål, Norway Photo: Ål Folkehoyskole WFD Board and WFDYS members at a Training Day, Ål, Norway 3 I am pleased to give you a summary of the outcomes The WFD Board also passed a motion to acknowledge from the board meeting: the ongoing support of the Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD) which has managed our current staff 1. Reviewed the Action Plan which was adopted members and offi ce space since 2001. WFD will soon at the General Assembly. Board members and be the direct employer of the Secretariat staff, beginning the WFD Secretariat Team gave input to create in January 2012, but FAD remains ever-generous, the activities needed to achieve each key goal offering equipment and offi ce space for our Secretariat for each year until 2015. team members who will continue to operate from the headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. 2. Reviewed the current structure of the WFD Board and formed key working groups:- Soon each ordinary member of the World Federation of the Deaf will receive a copy of the Board Meeting • Legal Commission Committee Minutes. After the very successful WFD board meeting, WFD • Finance Committee and the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) jointly hosted a conference “Sign Languages as Endangered • Membership Application Review Committee Languages”, co-ordinated by the Al Folkehoyskole. The conference was funded by the Norwegian Foreign • Human Rights Working Group Ministry. Further information about the conference is available on the WFD website. • Fundraising Working Group After the board meeting and the WFD/EUD • Expert Working Group Conference, the WFD Board and WFDYS members were invited to the Oslo Deaf Association, a local Deaf Club of the Norwegian Federation of the Deaf. It was • World Congress Working Group a very enjoyable evening for both WFD Board and WFDYS members and we were surprised by a generous • WFD Conference Liaison Offi cer donation (1289 € (Euro) which they raised through the International Day of Deaf People in September. The • WFD/WASLI Task Force WFD Board appreciates and applauds the Oslo Deaf Association’s generous support of our international • WFD/ICSD Task Force work. 3. Decided the theme for the 2012 International 2012 will be an important year for those whose Week of Deaf People countries have ratifi ed the UN CRPD because some places on the committee that monitors the UN CRPD implementation will be available. The committee 4. Reviewed WFD Secretariat Organisational doesn’t have any deaf members at present, and we Structure hope that some deaf people will stand for nomination. In order to be nominated, interested deaf people will 5. Completed a Budget Review for 2012 need to work with their national federation of people with disabilities and their country’s government. We 6. Reviewed new membership applications encourage each national association to advocate making sure good deaf candidates are put forward. Our WFD 7. Discussed having a Deaf Flag Secretariat team will soon make direct contact with our country members whose governments have ratifi ed the 8. Discussed having a Sign Language Symbol UN CRPD. As you know, everyone on the WFD Board and the 9. Adopted Qatari Center of Social Cultural for WFDYS work as volunteers. My own full time job is the Deaf as WFD’s 133rd Ordinary Member with the Deaf Society of NSW as Director of Services. I would like to acknowledge the commitment of all our board members and WFDYS members, and their The WFD Board received the reports from both host dedication to serving the 70 million deaf people around organisations of the 2nd International Conference of the world and our 133 country members. the World Federation of the Deaf in Australia and XVII World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf WFD wishes you all safe holidays in Turkey. Both organisations have been organised their conference/congress well in advance. The Board over December and January, appreciated Mr Ecrument Tanriverdi, the President of wherever you are around the world. Turkish National Federation of the Deaf who came to the board meeting and gave a report to the board. Colin Allen, WFD President 4 NEWS FROM THE WFD 100th WFD Board Meeting The100th WFD Board meeting will be held in Louisville, Kentucky in USA, hosted by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), USA from 29 June – 3 July 2012. NAD is arranging their 51st Biennial Conference, along Dr. Liisa Kauppinen, with the DeaFestival Kentucky from 3 – 7 July 2012. It Honorary President, is a big honour to have their event and also for WFD to No. 2 celebrate its 100th Board meeting.