As deaf persons across the globe mark the 2020 International Week of the Deaf, all stakeholders in Nigeria have been called upon to unite in endorsement of the need to secure and promote the human rights of deaf people.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ” Reaffirming Deaf People’s Human Rights.”
The Executive Director, Deaf Women Aloud Initiative (DWAI), Helen Beyioku-Alase who made the call during an event on Thursday at Laps New World Hotel in Jabi, Abuja to commemorate the 2020 International Week of the Deaf, also asked stakeholders to reaffirm their support for full participation with sign language.
Beyioku-Alase said while delivering a welcome address that the International Week of the Deaf which is held every 21st-27th September, “is a day adopted by the World Federation of the Deaf(WFD) to celebrate the progress and increase awareness about deaf and sign-language issues all over the world.”
“The United Nations General Assembly also proclaimed 23rd of September as the International Day of Sign Language in order to raise awareness about the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf,” she added.
She said that the United Nations(UN)Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes and promotes the use of sign languages.
The DWAI boss noted that sign languages are equal in status to spoken languages, hence the UN have obligated state parties including Nigeria to facilitate the learning of sign language and promote the linguistic identity of the deaf community.
She also noted that early access to sign language and services in sign language, including quality education available in sign languages is vital to the growth and development of deaf individuals and critical to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals.
She said deaf people have achieved so much in their chosen fields as some of them are doctors, nurses, teachers, mechanics, lawyers, tailors, civil servants, politicians, students, among others who have contributed and are still contributing to development of the country.
She commended the President Muhammadu Buhari government for appointing persons with disabilities as executive members of the newly established National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, adding, ” this singular act us a step towards ensuring full realization of sign-language in almost every area in our societies.”
The Executive Director of Deaf Women Aloud Initiative also commended the efforts of individuals and organizations in promoting sign language in Nigeria.
She however, noted that a lot still need to be done to sensitize the society, media non governmental organizations, civil society organizations and the government about the importance of sign language and ensure that the content of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act 2018 yielded the best outcomes.
While appreciating the supports from Marie Stopes International Nigeria, Deaf Women Association of Nigeria, Ability Positive Plus, Studio 24, Star Children Development Initiative and others for the 2020 International Week of the Deaf, she called on the international communities and NGOs to ensure full participation with sign language noting that “We need to be carried along to fulfill the UN SDGs Vision 2030 of ” leave no one behind.”
Delivering a goodwill message, a representative of Marie Stopes International in Nigeria, Rahama Bangudu said the organization has collaborated with DWAI in different activities to ensure that the voices of deaf women are amplified.
“We are very happy to collaborate with the initiative to ensure deaf women have access to their rights.We understand that there is communication barrier, so we want to do everything in our power to ensure deaf women out there have access to their reproductive health because it is their right,” she said.
The Executive Director, Voice of Disability Initiative, Barrister Catherine Edeh(a deaf person), also commended DWAN, DWAI and other partners for the event.
“We need this unity to go far . We shall never stop and we shall succeed, ” she said as she further urged the organizations to continue to be united and urged partners to continue to support the deaf persons initiatives.”
In her remark, Deaconess Adedoyin Beyioku-Alase popularly known as Mama Deaf, said disability is a fate that can befall anyone in the society, so the society should be structured in such a way that accommodates the needs of persons with disabilities.
“Our problem is the society. Deafness or disability is not our problem because when we can’t talk or hear, they think we are lying,” mama deaf who is also the National President of Deaf Women Association of Nigeria said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Ability Plus TV, Janet Fasakin said among the deaf we have barristers, CEOs and other persons who have attained higher positions in the society and achieved so much, “so the deaf should not be neglected because they have dine so much to contribute to the development of Nigeria.”
The highpoint of the event was a panel discussion by representatives of deaf people from the education, health, information and justice sector who spoke on various issues affecting the deaf in the country.
Speaking on the area of education, Mrs Bose Enniyin observed among other things that many sign language teachers in the country are not qualified. She also pointed out that deaf persons lack the necessary learning aids or materials that would have made learning very interesting and easy for them.
In the area of justice, Bar. Catherine Edeh said the narratives is gradually changing as deaf lawyers and activists have continued to push for implementation of the rights of deaf person to access courts for delivery of justice.
According to her, a lot have been put in place to facilitate this while efforts are ongoing.
Hellen Beyioku-Alase who spoke on deaf people’s access to healthcare, stated that there is a huge communication barrier between deaf persons and health workers.
She said deaf persons are being neglected in many hospitals due to the communication barrier, thereby denied of their right to healthcare services.
She called on government to ensure public hospitals are equipped with sign language interpreter to bridge the communication gap.
On information, Janet Fasakin said deaf people are not carried along in the area of information dissemination by private and government news mediums, a development which has affected them greatly.
She said it took spirited and personal efforts on their part to ensure that some of their members have access to information about COVID-19 in the outbreak of the pandemic.
According to her, representative had to push for the NTA and the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 to broadcast some of its news in sign language for the benefit of their deaf members as she called in private television stations to emulate the NTA.