10 Years of Maltese Sign Language Recognition, 20 Years of the CRPD: Celebrating Deaf Identity, Language, and Human Rights (COSP19 Side Event)

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Good afternoon.
I'm glad that we have a microphone for those who rely on spoken language.
I will be using International S to chair this session.
My name is doctor Joe Murray.
I am the President of the World Federation of the Deaf.
It is my honor to chair this side event.
Let me begin with a statement that the WFD makes everywhere we go.
The right to sign is a fundamental human right.
Sign languages are full natural human languages, equal in every respect to spoken languages.
For a deaf person, access to a national sign language is not a convenience.
It is the foundation of education, participation, identity, and nearly every other right this convention promises.
We meet around two anniversaries.
This year, the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities turns 20.
And this year, Malta marks ten years since it passed the Maltese Sign Language Recognition Act.
Read side by side, they show us how a right travels from words on a page into the daily life of a deaf person.
When the CRPD was adopted 20 years ago, it became the first human rights treaty to name sign languages directly.
It defines language to include sign languages.
It guarantees the right to express yourself in sign language and calls on states parties to recognize it in law.
It protects education delivered in sign language, and it affirms the right of deaf people to their own cultural and linguistic identity.
That is the promise, now the reality.
20 years on, around six and ten of the states parties that have ratified this convention have still not legally recognized their national sign language.
The WFD has been clear that the absence of meaningful sign language is a grave violation of deaf people's fundamental rights.
This is why Malta matters to all of us and why we are not only celebrating today.
Malta is a small nation with a minority sign language that chose to seat deaf people at the table as decision makers.
Small states are often told that recognition is something they will get to later when resources allow.
But Malta shows the opposite.
When a nation understands inclusion means meaningful recognition of sign language, they show everyone else what is possible.
As we start this event, I want to go over a few practical details.
We have international sign interpretation and live captioning available today.
You can see that on the screen, I believe, at one point.
I would like to begin to begin, it is my pleasure to invite Her Excellency Ambassador Natasha to invite Her Excellency Ambassador Natasha Meli, permanent representative of the Republic of Malta to the United Nations to address.
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Once again, Mr.
Chair, I wish to thank you for this introduction and to say that it is a great honor for me to be here today to mark the ten years of Maltese sign language as well as the 20 years of the CRPD.
Colleagues, friends, the past years have seen trying times.
We have witnessed unprecedented shifts which threatened to leave behind those persons which society has placed in situations of increased vulnerability.
However, through meetings such as the COS, we gather together to affirm our commitment to the principle of nothing without us and to recognize the achievements have been made possible through our joint action and indeed to pledge to continue building upon past successes while addressing emerging challenges together.
Today, we proudly recall a landmark achievement from my own country, Malta, as has been mentioned, a testament to what targeted advocacy and collaborative stakeholder engagement can achieve.
It is the story of a small community, as has been mentioned, within a very small nation, but one that fought for over 50 years and that until just 14 years ago was still denied the fundamental right to exercise legal capacity.
Today, Malta's deaf community has brought us together to celebrate this achievement.
The ten years since Maltese Sign Language became an official language and since the Maltese Sign Language Council was established.
This council was established to formally oversee the protection and promotion of deaf rights and culture, to work on university level courses, providing training to sign language interpreters, and to put in place a cutting edge framework, providing for registration and warranting of sign language interpreters, elevating this profession to the standard it deserves, while guaranteeing quality in service delivery for the deaf community.
While our council colleagues will be sharing further details of this journey with you, it is important to recognize one key aspect.
None of this would have been possible without coordination at national level, as well as the support and example of partners abroad.
Partners who we are also glad to have with us here today.
So with that, colleagues, Mr.
Chair, I wish to thank you all for making this happen, not only for today's event, but for your continued efforts over the years.
And in the face of adversity, you have affirmed diversity and equity, promoted inclusion, and stay true to the values of the CRPD, which we want to see stronger than ever 20 years on from its adoption.
Thank you once again for being with us here today.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Your Excellency, for your very wonderful words to open.
I am pleased now to hand the floor to the ambassador from the Permanent Mission of Mongolia Akbar Nam Dj.
Ambassador, colleagues, the excellencies, distinguished delegates, representatives of the Organizations of persons with disabilities.
Thank you for having us, first of all, and languages are not merely a tool for communication.
It is the foundation of the identity, participation and dignity.
That's why this anniversary really matters not only Malta and Mongolia, and the deaf community, but for all of us committed to the full realization of the CRPD.
Today, we mark two milestones that remind us how far we have come and how much further we must go.
I extend my appreciation to Malta and all co sponsors for bringing together the governments, international organizations, and representatives of the deaf community to advance our shared commitment to the objectives of the Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities.
The recognition and promotion of sign languages are also not merely matters of accessibility.
They are fundamental to the realization of human rights, dignity, inclusion, and equal participation.
Sign languages are vital means of communication and an essential element of the linguistic identity, culture, and participation of deaf communities.
As emphasized by the CRPD, persons with disabilities must be empowered to participate fully and then effectively in society and languages at the heart of that participation.
Mongolia strongly supports efforts to ensure the accessibility and full inclusion of persons with disabilities in decision making processes.
Mongolia's law on the rights of persons with disabilities adopted in 2016.
It recognizes sign language as an important means of communication and promotes measures to support its use and development.
While Mongolia does not have a dedicated law on the sign language, work has commenced on development of initial draft legislative framework, reflecting our commitment to further strengthen the protection and promotion of the linguistic rights of deaf persons.
As a state party to the CRPD, Mongolia has continued to strengthen its legislative and policy framework.
To promote the rights of persons with disabilities, including measures related to accessibility, inclusive education, employment opportunities, independent living, and participation in public life.
Mongolia firmly believes that the organizations of persons with disabilities disabilities, including organizations of the persons must participate meaningfully in the development, implementation, and monitoring and the evaluation of policies and programs that affect them.
Their leadership and lived experience are indispensable to the effective implementation of the commitment.
Malta's enactment of the Multi Sign Language Recognition Act in 2016 and its subsequent framework for regulating Sign Language interprets stands as a model of deaf led rights based policy making that many states, including Mongolia, can learn from.
We commend Malta's achievements over the past decades and are grateful for the opportunity to engage with good practice shared today.
As we mark the 20 years of the CRPD, let this anniversary remind us that conclusion begins with language and deaf communities must be not just beneficiaries of our policies, but the architects.
Two days ago, I was sitting in the opening of the plenary And then I just reminded myself that when we ratified the convention itself, I was translating the convention into Mongolian so that the Parliament can adopt the convention.
Then subsequently, as I said, we adopted a specific law on matter in 2016.
Now, when it comes to the full implementation of the legal framework we have is that scalable financing, hard infrastructure, and so on.
We have done a lot, but there are more things we have to done to get in.
I wish today's side event very productive and successful.
With that, thank you very much.
Sorry for saying few things rather than prefer a text.
Thank you very much.
I think the key point is that language is a universal human right and that can be spoken language or sign language.
Thank you very much for emphasizing that.
Next, we'd like to have the member of the European Parliament, Alex Agios Salba who is the co chair for the Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament.
The floor is yours.
Thanks a lot Chair, US ambassador and also representatives of deaf organizations.
It's a real pleasure to be here with you today to mark two very important anniversaries, two very important milestones when it comes to recognizing the rights of persons with disabilities.
First of all, the 20th anniversary of the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is the living document, I like to say when it comes to protecting the most basic and fundamental rights of persons with disability.
But as a Maltese, I feel truly honored to be here also today to mark the ten year anniversary since Maltese sign language received legal and official recognition, something which I believe continues to enrich our cultural heritage as Maltese.
We are here today, and this is more special for me because we are not going to speak only about legislation but policy, but we are putting people minority at the very center stage of our discussion.
Maybe for us, Maltese minorities take a more important position maybe because of our small size geographical limitations.
Therefore, we always try to give center stage to our minorities.
The deaf community in Malta, I believe, is a very important community and having The language, which is not just a tool, it's a language.
It's a fundamental right, as we have already stated, is a very important message that we gave as a community, as a member state ten years ago.
Again, this was an important legal step, but more importantly, it was also a, a recognition of a fundamental right, a recognition also of a long fight that the Maltese deaf community has been pushing forward because ultimately, Maltese sign language is not just a tool for communication, it is a language.
It is culture, it is identity, and also, as I said, a vital part of our national heritage.
What makes me especially proud is that this story did not only end with a law being passed over the last decade.
Deaf people in Malta have been given a center stage.
Together with interpreters, professionals, service providers, and also public authorities, they have helped to shape policies, strengthen services, and also promote greater accessibility.
They have shown that real progress happens when people are not only spoken for, but when they are empowered to speak for themselves.
This is also one of the most important lessons that we have learned as CRPD.
20 years ago, the convention continues to remind us that inclusion is not only about doing things for persons with disability.
It is about working with persons with disabilities and ensuring that they are equal partners when decisions are being taken, decisions that ultimately are shaping and affecting their daily lives.
The experience of Malta shows that even a small country can make a meaningful impact, a meaningful contribution.
We do not claim to have all the answers at hand, and there is still much to do, but we are proud to share our experience and also to learn from experiences of deaf communities throughout the world.
Because while sign languages may differ from one country to another, the value which is enshrined in the sign language that we are discussing today is a universal value, a value of dignity, a value of participation, and a value of respect.
Apart from being Maltese, I'm also proud to come from a very special committee within the European Parliament.
Here today for these events, we are represented by three different committees coming from the European Parliament, the Civil Liberties Committee, the u employment and Social Affairs Committee and also the petitions Committee.
The petitions Committee in the European Parliament is the only committee, is the only formation within the European Parliament who also has sign language as an official language.
Sign language, apart from all the official languages in the European Parliament is always given and is always accessible during all our meetings to make also the work of the only committee where there is interaction between European citizens the commission, and we as parliamentarians together with member states more accessible.
I would like to thank all those who made this event possible, particularly the deaf community in Malta, whose commitment, whose perseverance brought us where we are today because ultimately, having Maltese sign language recognized as an official language is not only the work of the Maltese government, but it is the work of the deaf community in Malta.
Therefore, as we celebrate these important milestones today, let us also send a clear message from New York.
Recognition matters, accessibility matters, deaf leadership matters.
20 years after CRPD, we must continue to build societies where deaf people are not asking only for a place on the table, but are helping and are being given center stage to lead the conversation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
A wonderful testimony about the impact of the multi Sign Language and how it interacts with other language rights around the world and deaf communities.
Next in this session, we will have three thematic interventions.
The first theme is the road to empowerment.
Where do we stand? The first speaker will be Annabel Sherry, chairperson of the Maltese Sign Language Association.
Chair, distinguished delegates and friends, as well as those watching us online.
Ten years ago, I stood in the Maltese Parliament to watch Ma language be enshrined in our home.
This was a historic milestone for a great achievement for our community and for myself personally as well.
Growing up, I did not use some language.
But 13 years ago, I met the people in that community that current here.
My life changed.
For the first time, I felt the sense of belonging.
I experienced a beautiful culture, and I also started to learn and use sign language to gain access.
I feel proud to say that this is my language too now.
When I started using sign language for access, I realized that this was something important that I didn't realize.
I hadn't realized the things that I had been using before.
This community of dead people with their own language need access to drive.
In Man, we still have challenges, one of which is that the children and their families do not wait as much as I did to find their own language.
It's important that sign language and their community become part of their lives.
We hope that their children grow up to be accepted in this identity, this community, and also have full access to sign language.
Many families don't have enough information and don't know the value of sign language, or they have been pressured to teach children to speak.
I miss Monte's law and the UNC have helped us to move away from the model and now see that person as two citizens but also having their own language, culture, and also having access like I did.
Mote language law should not now just stay on paper.
This is becoming part of our identity.
The law shows very clearly that these people are part of society and our language has value.
We need to respect this culture and our way of life.
When I started working as chair of the Masa Venngage Council ten years ago, I realized that this law needs now to move away from the labor and become part of our lives.
This is something that we experience it fully.
The law becomes part of society, becomes more visible.
Today, we have made many achievements in the past ten years.
I've seen the successes myself as well as for my community.
But challenges remain.
We need more sign language teachers so that children can learn their language early on.
It becomes natural language.
And we also need more interrogators so that we have more access to every life.
I dream on a future where everyone has access and this access is automated.
No we need to have to wait for it every time to gain access.
This access needs to become part of our lives.
These challenges don't be the middle gate, but it just shows what we need to do next.
In order for people who are dead to have a better life, we need to work together and we know more as a small island, but we have managed to keep it out already.
We are strong.
We have worked together with the deaf community, the interrogators, families, and also government authorities.
I hope to see in the next ten years more achievements working together.
Promoting and celebrating together so that sign language and our identity as the people with the momentum continues to grow together for more success.
To conclude, I would like to say something really differently.
It is important for us to remember as deaf persons, as authorities that for really inclusion to happen, it is really important for deaf people not to just be part of the organization, but to lead the organization.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I think the last sentence that you said that community leader is speaking.
We will have the executive director of the cultural Centerreter in Mongolia, and it is also a at the time.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Hello, greetings to everyone.
Thank you for having me here.
Let me begin by congratulating everyone on two meaningful anniversaries, the 20th anniversary of UN CRPD, and the tenth anniversary of recognition of Multi Sign Language.
Now, these are not an official recognition, but I want to say as our ambassador of Mongolia, We have laws and they are in place, but I want to speak to my personal experience.
In Angola, the situation is that we are for the 18th largest land mass country in the world.
However, our population is very small.
We are a country of 3.5 billion people.
We are nomadic people.
And so we have traditionally had isolated tribes throughout all of our land mass.
Massively so as our country is comprised.
Now we have 80,000 deaf people, and that statistic includes deaf people, front of hearing people, people with hearing loss, those who speak and don't sign, so we don't have an official statistic on how many Mongolians use sign language as their primary language.
Prior to the CRPD being adopted and ratified, I did not have access to sign language as well.
I this shared experience at an of life in Malta.
I was born in a remote area.
I became deaf at 8-years-old.
I did not have any peers who were deaf in my community.
I knew that there was one university where deaf students could enroll in the Capitol, but that's not where I lived.
I did not learn sign language until I had arrived to the Capitol and became active in the disability community.
And that was at the same time that the UN CRPD was ratified.
I did not know about what was included in the rights for people with disabilities.
I grew up part of the Dead Mong bullying community, embarrassed to sign.
We all were.
For example, if Dead Mong Buullys were to go to a restaurant to use sign language in public, oftentimes, the restaurant workers would ask the deaf customers to leave.
There was a stigma around using sign language.
Often times the employees felt like they could not access what was being said and did not trust deaf people.
Now, the UN CRP has been ratified, it's been in 20 years, and we've seen a change.
Deaf people sign in public.
We have sign language commonly used in our community and beyond our economy as well.
This is a positive change.
However, it has been a slow change.
It's required changes in attitude, improvement in education, but we are not at the level where we have sign language recognition in law.
However, the deaf community is working with our government to fight for the recognition of sign language.
It is a positive process.
It's a long process, but we're making progress.
Part of the issue is that we don't have the experience required to work together simply because we are a country of no mass.
We have to ask ourselves if we do get national recognition of our sign language, how would that work look? Who would be responsible for what and who would pay for what? I'm hoping in the next 20 years to see change like the recognition of Mongolian sign language.
Because in the US CRPD, we do have the right to recognize our own national sign language.
We don't have that yet, and when we do, we will have more access to a full life, as mentioned in the Maltese experience, but implementation is a challenge.
So we have work ahead of us.
For example, for a reasonable accommodation.
This is something that deaf people in Mongolia have not necessarily achieved in the way that we would like.
It is not synonymous with access, and we hope to see that achieved in the next 20 years.
With Article 12 of the UNCRPD, this speaks to equality in the legal system, equality before the law.
This is not a new concept to all of us, and this is part of human rights, as we all know, but the question is, what does access look like in that space.
And so we need to make that happen.
We can see in Mongolia that is not being realized by ident Mongolians not just in Mongolia, In response to NFL's comments with a national law with the UN CRPD, there can be support for national recognition of Mongolian sign language, but we do have barriers.
Of course, at the international level, we recognize that sign language is a right and that there can be implementation of that process, but we face attitudinal barriers, and we also face a lack of employment opportunities, reasonable accommodations to employment.
It's also who does what in this system.
However, at the international level, I do have some of the access that I hope to see in my own country.
We can see that Balta has achieved national recognition.
We're talking about it on an international level, and I hope to see that only as soon.
I hope to see that our national sign language gets recognized and we have the work.
I had a bus, and I wanted to see it specifically in my field of work in arts and culture.
I am somebody who works a leader.
I want access to the work I'm talented to do and I hope to get that access one day.
Thank you for listening to my experience.
Maybe I can learn from the Maltese de community we can collaborate together and work to achieve this recognition.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, doctor Murray as well.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for your future of deaf rights in Mongolia.
Our next thematic section will be strengthening regulation, services and support.
Again, we will have two speakers.
The first speaker is Leann Quigley from Ireland, the chairperson of the board of the Irish Deaf Society, among other responsibilities.
She has sent a video for us and she's not able to be here with us today.
If we could show the video, please.
Dian Quigley.
And I am the chairperson of the Irish deaf Society.
I would like to thank the Maltese Sign Language Council for inviting me here today to talk about Ireland's system for the regulation of Irish sign language interpreters.
The recognition of Irish Sign Language ISL has been achieved through the ISL Act, 2017, that was a landmark moment for death rights in Ireland.
An important key element of this was the establishment of the register of Irish Sig language interpreters known as Risley.
The purpose of Risley was to create a system to verify interpreter competence and to support quality assurance in interpreting services.
For t Pina, this is not simply an administrative issue.
Access to qualified interpreters directly impacts our rights to healthcare, education, justice, employment, political participation, and independent living.
However, significant challenges remain.
In 2024, Risley received legal advice indicating that its mandate under the ISL Act is limited strictly to accrediting interor competence.
As a result, the code of conduct was withdrawn, the complaint process was ceased and structured continuous professional development was no longer a requirement.
This has created a serious gap that negatively impacts deaf people.
Interpreters listed on the register are currently not bound by a statutory code of conduct and deaf people have no independent complaints mechanism through RSA if issues arise regarding confidentiality, professionalism, or quality of interpretation.
The Irish deaf society has been actively campaigning to address these issues and strengthen the interpreter regulation system in Ireland through a rights based approach.
IDS has raised these concerns in its list of issues submission.
These submissions are to government and through direct engagement with policymakers.
Most recently, in our submission to the National Disability authority on the second review of the ISL Act, the idea for it to be amended to explicitly provide Ridley with legal authority for regulatory functions, including professional standards, complaints procedures and the enforcement of continuous professional development.
The IDS has also called for a clear policy and founding responsibility for Wesley to sit with the Department of Children, Disability and equality to ensure governance is grounded in a human rights and equality framework rather than a welfare based approach.
Importantly, IDS supports the introduction of a statutory code of conduct for interpreters, an independent complaints mechanism approved by the minister and structured state sponsored continuous professional development, particularly in specialized areas such as health, legal, and education.
IDS representatives sit on the Irish Sign Language working group under Ireland's National Human Rights Strategy for disabled people.
One of the key policy priorities of this group is to strengthen the pipeline of interpreters to address the critical shortage and ensure sustainable access to high quality interpretation services into the future.
For people, Interpreter regulation is fundamentally about human rights.
Recognition of ISL alone is not enough.
Deaf communities must also have confidence that interpreting services are safe, regulated, and supported through sustained investment.
Ireland has made important progress, but there's still significant work to be done to ensure that deaf people can fully realize their rights under the NRCPD.
Thank you.
Can we get the camera back to the chair, please.
Thank you.
Next, we have two speakers from Malta who will be speaking together, Dorian Calais, who is a member of the Maltese Sign Language Association, and Sharon Mifsud, the president of AILSM.
The floor is yours.
My name is Darien Ks and I'm a board member of Posa Language Council.
I would like to thank you all for today's opportunity, and in my brief time, I will explain the services that board and existence we have in place in Malta on behalf of the people.
The end of 2000 wasn't crucial for us because equily started being more.
This happened before U, but we are working towards inclusion, equity, and participation.
The law of UNC has further empowered us and has greatly help us to develop legislations, policies, and services, all for the benefit of disabled people.
The equal opportunities in the 2000 started providing us also with the services of sign language, as well as services on national television.
Initially, the service was very important.
However, we are now bund to say that this is being increasing gradually.
The news casting is that a minute bulletin, but it still gives dead people accessibility just as other people in Malta.
No.
I am very proud with the service we are giving and especially as it has been going on for more than 25 years.
The television programs in Malta are still very limited with accessibility.
However, many political events are accessible.
They have interpretation which one is sign language and others have subtit.
We hope to keep increasing the services to also include not only the people but those with the part of ga In more years work to achieve courses through lifelong learning by teaching basic sign language.
These courses serve an awareness and diverse step for people to play go opportunity to learn sign language.
Awareness is fundamental for inclusion, and this also helps us increase the services when the demand is increasing and now at the University of Monta, there's struggling for the teachers.
Recently, also, there's a new service in Moda promo.
It's for the deaf and hard of care to be built.
It provides support to individuals and their families within the community.
They also provide education and help to people who need guidance and to lead tips on how best to communicate.
These things and achievement show that Malta has steadily grown with some oil and this is still in place.
However, more work needs to be done for the lovely.
So we assure equality of opportunity and equal access for all.
Thank you so much for your attention.
Okay.
Can we have the gara please on the speaker? Okay.
Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to be here today as president on behalf of the only sign language learners.
When I was preparing for today's session, I was thinking that the four main things that came to my mind were that, first of all, Mo is a very small nation, but we do have small things resources, but we still have lots of potential.
In fact, we are very determined, we never gave up, and also we have an excellent teamwork.
That's why we are here today.
My colleague Perre Duren, who just explained about the services of the deaf people and the achievements made by host that community has mentioned the most crucial things.
I just need to add some thoughts.
In my perspective as an interpreter, I used to be in the middle between languages and between cultures.
I see that there was no improvement because we worked collaboratively together.
When I was studying way back at university for my first degree, I met people who voluntarily started to teach me basic sign language and welcome to me in community.
This year was the year 2006.
Little I know that this year was such an important milestone for UN that's why we're here today.
As time went by, I kept on learning sign language, and then an opportunity came up for me to work as an interpreter with the People Association of Malta.
That means that meant that the association had trusted me and wanted me to take responsibility.
I have always work collaboratively and very loudly with my colleagues and with the people.
We knock doors together, we lobbied together, and we really fought hard for their rights.
You know Mima has one number with interpreters, but we still work very professionally and people in professional development.
We have in growth.
The convention is also helpful for us to recognize accessibility, to increase services, and to work to improve professional standards of integrity.
But most importantly is that we keep on developing and improving.
Malta has also a law, which we are very proud of, because this happened in 2016, ten years ago.
And this law is showing how important accessibility is in fact the council oversees the law.
This law helps us as well to went further more so that we can start where they got the official Sign Language interpreting voice.
This was an both gra diploma at the University of Malta, where interpreters graduated officially for university.
The Interpreter Association, together with Sign Language Council and the association have celebrated and achieved these things all together.
And recently, just in 2025, we have a new law of the legislation and wanting for the professional sign language interpreters.
This ensures a professional standard for us interpreters, but a high quality service for the people.
I would really like to thank all the people who support us and as the president of the Association of Interps, I really would like to thank you and say how proud we are that we work together.
Together, we work and together, we celebrate.
I think it's very important that as a small nation, we appreciate what we do and we really need to be grateful.
To conclude, I am just voting together who said, alone, we can do so little, but together, we can do so much.
Thank you so much, everyone, for your attention.
Thank you to our two speakers.
I think it's important to say that as all recognize their sign language, you could have chosen to speak the last speaker here, you could have chosen to use English, but you chosen to use Mase language, which is quite in line with the topic I have today.
Next up is the CRP dash 20.
Derize on the international stage.
I think we have two speakers.
The first of which is Sophia Esri, the president of the European Union for the Deaf, who has presented the video because she is not able to be with us today.
Can you look at the video, please? Distinguished delegates fellow advocates and members of the deaf community around the world.
My name is Sophia Sosa and I'm the president of the European New Jersey Deaf.
The European organization representing National Association of deaf people across European countries.
It is an honor to join you at this side event marking the 20th anniversary of the CRPD.
20 years on, I want to speak plainly about where the European Union stands on sign language rights and what still needs to change.
Now, the convention is not silent on sign languages.
Articles two, 21 B and E and 30, read together, establish a clear obligation.
States parties must recognize and promote the use of national sign languages in all areas of public life.
The ED's position is that these provisions, taken together, create an obligation to officialize national sign languages, not merely to just acknowledge their existence, but to give them formal legal status.
The European Union has ratified the CRPD on the 23rd of December in 2010.
It is therefore bound by these obligations, and yet none of the 29 national sign languages used across the EU member states are recognized as official languages of the European Union.
In 2025, the CRPD Committee issued its concluding observations to the European Union, and for the first time, the committee explicitly recommended that the EU proceed with the officialization of national Sign languages as official EU languages.
This recommendation is not isolated.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities made the same call in 2021.
In 2026, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues joined this growing consensus, recognizing deaf communities not only as persons with disabilities, But as cultural and linguistic minorities whose languages deserve protection and promotion.
There are various mechanisms of the United Nations are speaking with one voice.
The European Union must listen.
We had hoped that the European Commission's recent communication that updated the European Disability Rights strategy to 20 2030 would reflect this consensus.
However, it does not.
There's no mention of the officialization of national sign languages, no initiative to strengthen sign language rights across the union.
So the linguistic rights of approximately 1 million deaf sign language users in the EU remain largely invisible in the commission's agenda.
This is a significant failing and EUD deplores it.
The EUD is not waiting, we're acting.
We've been at the forefront of advocating for a European Day of Sign languages to be held every year on June 17th.
In October of last year, the Council of the European Union in its EpsCO formation endorsed this initiative.
This is a meaningful step forward.
However, the European Commission has yet to advance on this matter.
A European Day of Sign languages requires an institutional anchor, a decision, a legal act, a commitment.
Without commissioned leadership, political endorsement risks becoming symbolic.
That is why the EUD is now working closely with the European Parliament to make this day a reality.
We believe that parliamentary leadership, combined with civil society advocacy can build the pressure needed to compel action.
Ten years of the CRPD represent 20 years of progress.
But progress is not enough when the gap between what is required and what is done remains this wide.
The EUD calls on the European Commission to align its disability rights strategy with human rights obligations and to take concrete steps towards the officialization of national sign languages.
The CRPD Committee has spoken, the Special rapporteurs have spoken, and it's time for the European Union to act.
Thank you.
Thank you, Sophia, for your comments with us.
For our final speaker, we have Elizabeth Lockwood, from a senior Global Disability Inclusion, representative of the United Stateations.
D.
Thank you so much.
It's an honor to be here and to be representing my organization.
I'm going to talk today about the importance of international cooperation, especially international NGOs working with deaf communities.
As background, CBM Global is an international NGO and we work with persons with disabilities in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America.
We work with deaf communities in Bolivia, Laos, Madagascar, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.
I'll give you a little bit of background on a few of these projects.
In Laos, we work with the Laosian deaf community to promote the rights of deaf people to access Laosian sign language.
It's very important because this project also supports the recognition of LS.
Laish sign language, excuse me, to be officially recognized.
We also work in Madagascar and Madagascar has been very important to us.
We have worked with deaf learners for more than 40 years.
We also have a memorandum of understanding with the Malagasy sign language interpreters.
So we ensure that sign language is in all our programs and events and anything that we do.
Even communications, very important.
In the Philippines, another important factor is in our country Advisory Panel, we have the Deaf Federation president as one of our members.
I think this is really important to highlight to have deaf leaders from the deaf community involved in international NGO work.
We also support the recent initiative sharing Filipino sign language evidence and outcomes from the Filipino deaf community.
Although our contributions are small, they have a very big impact.
We also are supporting the Filipino Sign Language Act of 2018 and similarly to what Doula mentioned, Filipino Sign Language is recognized, but it's not really being implemented, so we're supporting this process with the community.
Very important, the project takes a participatory approach and individuals are not just participants, they're the leaders and the co creators of these projects.
Then of course, something I'm very proud of as CBM Global, we have a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Federation of the Deaf and this was signed in 2022, and one of the things we have done as supported deaf led research for deaf women in Nigeria, accessing health care services, and also deaf indigenous women in Bolivia, replicating this study, very important So I will conclude as saying that the benefits of an international NGO working with deaf organizations in this partnership can really highlight a few things such as strengthening the commitment to and development toward deaf rights, ensuring the full realization of human rights of all deaf people.
This includes linguistic and cultural rights and especially the recognition of national sign languages.
Supporting deaf organizations to lead the systemic change that's envisioned under the Convention and the sustainable development goals, funding deaf led research to fill critical data gaps, especially on sign language users and underrepresented deaf groups, and supporting inclusive international cooperation to support the realization of the rights of deaf persons in the Global South.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Our time has run out, unfortunately, so we will have to move on to one of our final which is a celebration of Colt's performance.
This celebration will be through visual art fors, what is called visual vernacular.
It is impossible to be interpreted into spoken language.
So we ask that you watch the performance, and then we will give an explanation for the performers after.
So I invite Lan to the floor.
Someone who would like to build the we can get the camera on the detective getting the camera.
Thank you.
All right.
Okay.
I I So I hope you enjoyed performance as the chair right here explained, and then we will briefly explain those ten days.
It was a struggle towards the recognition and celebration of our national sign language.
So now we will hope you enjoy and appreciate all of your presidents being before us and I would like to thank the council and all the people who supported us to be where we are today.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Can I have the camera for the chair.
Thank you for that beautiful performance.
I think it was call that.
It's a wonderful way of summarizing to enjoy today as a society.
The struggle for sign language recognition.
It is one that many of us have experienced and one that we feel connected with.
It is one that connects our community in many ways.
And so I think your performance show the exhilaration that can be felt when sign language is all recognized.
And I think it's up to us after this to be here at cost as we go back to our countries to continue advocating for more support and legal recognition where exist.
Thank you very much to those who have participated in a variety of languages today.
I want to let you know that there were not cations in cations in this session.
So hopefully we will be able to solve that for increased seiity in the.
But we are newly energetic.
We have new ideas, and I hope that we will all continue to do the work that is needed us at home.
Thank you very much and have a wonderful afternoon.
Okay.