Sundaymail Editor
Disability Issues
Dr Christine Peta
IN this article, I will focus on sign languages.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed September 23 as the International Day of Sign Languages.
The day is meant to raise awareness on the importance of sign languages in the full realisation of the human rights of deaf persons.
I use the plural form (sign languages) because there is no standard sign language that is accepted or used by the whole world.
According to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), what exists is an International Sign (IS), which is a pidgin sign language used in various contexts that include international meetings and events.
The IS is an invented system of signing that facilitates cross language communication or translanguaging practice.
The WFD states that there are about 300 sign languages in the world. They are used by approximately 70 million deaf persons, with 80 percent of them living in developing countries.
Examples of sign languages are the American Sign Language, the British Sign Language, the New Zealand Sign Language, the Irish Sign Language and the South African Sign Language.
Zimbabwe is working towards prescribing a language that must officially be recognised as the Zimbabwean Sign Language (ZSL) as provided for in Section 6 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) gives equal status to signed and spoken languages.
On September 23, 2013, Zimbabwe made great strides towards recognising the rights of persons with disabilities by duly ratifying the UNCRPD and its optional protocol, thus agreeing to be bound by the provisions of the treaty.
The UNCRPD mentions sign language eight times in five different Articles (2, 9, 21, 24 and 30).
Sign language is acknowledged in the Constitution of Zimbabwe as one of the country’s 16 official languages.
In addition, Section 3.33.1 to 3.33.11 of the National Disability Policy is dedicated to the ZSL.
The first part reads: “The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare shall in consultation with organisations that represent the interests of the Deaf community and other stakeholders that include relevant Government Ministries prescribe the language which shall be recognised as the Zimbabwean Sign Language as provided for in section 6 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.”
The policy further states that the community of persons using the ZSL have the right to use, develop and preserve it, as well as foster, extend and transmit Deaf culture.
Beyond facilitating communication among deaf persons, and between people who can communicate verbally and those who cannot communicate verbally, sign language has additional benefits.
For example, sign language demands eye-to-eye contact, which, in turn, strengthens emotional bonding in various cases that include parent-child relations.
We must not regard sign language as the preserve of deaf persons alone. Both deaf persons and those without hearing impairments must learn to use sign language so that we can all communicate with ease whenever the need to use this language arises.
Dr Christine Peta is a disability, policy, international development and research expert, who is the national director of Disability Affairs in Zimbabwe. She can be contacted on: [email protected]
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