The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is an international

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

that acts as a

peak body A peak organisation or peak body is an Australian term for an advocacy group or trade association, an association of industries or groups with allied interests. They are generally established for the purposes of developing standards and processes ...

for national associations of Deaf people, with a focus on Deaf people who use sign language and their family and friends. WFD aims to promote the Human Rights of Deaf people worldwide, by working closely with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

(with which it has consultative status) and various UN agencies such as the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

(ILO) and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

(WHO). WFD is also a member of the

International Disability Alliance The International Disability Alliance (IDA), created in 1999, is an umbrella organization focused on improving awareness and rights for individuals with disabilities around the globe. The IDA works with Non Governmental Organizations (NGO's), supr ...

(IDA). The current 11 board members are all deaf. The offices are located in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

History

The WFD was established in September 1951 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, at the first World Deaf Congress, under the auspices of ''Ente Nazionale Sordomuti'' (ENS), the Italian Deaf Association. The first president of WFD was Professor Vittorio Ieralla, who was also, at that time, president of the ENS. The congress was attended by representatives from 25 countries. Dr. Cesare Magarotto was one of the founders of World Federation of the Deaf and its first General Secretary (1951-1987) along with Vittorio Ieralla who was elected as the President from 1951 to 1955. Ieralla and Magarotto successfully convinced the Italian government to support their efforts to establish a WFD General Secretariat in Rome, in 1951. With continued support from the Italian government and later with the ENS, the WFD General Secretariat was able to establish informative and advocacy networks, with national federations of the Deaf around the world. Decades later, the WFD General Secretariat relocated to Finland (1987), with support from the Finnish government and the Finnish national of the Deaf led by the former WFD General Secretary Dr. Liisa Kauppinen (WFD President Emeritius).

Status

WFD has B-category status with the United Nations and is represented on the following groups': * Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) *Regional Commissions * Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) *

Economic Commission for Europe The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and i ...

(ECE) * Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) * Economic Commission and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) * Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) *Panel of Experts on the UN Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities *

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nat ...

(OHCHR) *

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

(UNESCO) *

(ILO) *

(WHO) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

* Council of Europe WFD provides expert advice on Deaf issues in its relationship with other international organizations and professional groups. The legal seat of WFD is in Helsinki, Finland.

Aims and objectives

At present, emphasis is placed on the following areas: #Improve the status of national sign languages, #Better education for Deaf people, #Improve access to information and services #Improve human rights for Deaf people in developing countries #Promote the establishment of Deaf organisations where none currently exist

Constituency

The WFD claims to represent 70 million deaf people worldwide, of which more than 80 percent live in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed Industrial sector, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is al ...

. This is done mainly through membership of national deaf organisations, where such organisations exist. , 130 national associations are members. Associate members, international members and individual members also make up WFD's membership base. List of member associations (as of June 2021):

World Congress

The World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf has been held every four years since 1951. Organised by the WFD and the host country, this event is attended by thousands of Deaf people from all over the world. As well as convening the General Assembly (the highest decision-making body of the WFD) and forming the guidelines for the next four years of its work, the congress holds a large cultural program including theatre performances, cinema, exhibitions, performing arts, visits to local places of interest. During the 14th Congress the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI) was established.History of WASLI
Retrieved 7 January 2019.

Presidents

*1951-1955 :

Vittorio Ieralla Vittorio is an Italian male given name which has roots from the Byzantine-Bulgarian name Victor. People with the given name Vittorio include: * Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, pretender to the former Kingdom of Italy * Vittorio Adorni, pro ...

*1955-1983 :

Dragoljub Vukotić Dragoljub ( sr-cyr, Драгољуб) is a Serbian masculine given name, derived from Slavic '' drag-'' ("dear, beloved") and ''ljub'' ("love, to like"), both very common in Slavic dithematic names. It roughly means "dear love". It may refer to: * ...

*1983-1995 : Yerker Andersson(1929-2016 aged:87) *1995-2003 : Liisa Kauppinen *2003-2011 :

Markku Jokinen Markku is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Markku Alén (born 1951), Finnish former rally and race car driver * Markku Aro (born 1950), Finnish singer who performed on Eurovision contest in 1971 *Markku Huhtamo (born 1946), Fin ...

*2011-2019 :

Colin Allen (WFD President) Colin Eric Allen (born 9 May 1938) is an English blues drummer and songwriter. Career Allen spent the first ten years of his adult life working in aircraft engineering. He became interested in jazz at the age of 16 and two years later starte ...

*2019- : Joseph Murray

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:World Federation Of The Deaf Deaf culture Deafness rights organizations Disability rights organizations Organizations established in 1951 1951 establishments in Italy International organisations based in Finland