The Arab deaf week for 2014 is focusing on sports

Every year, during the last full week of April, Arab Deaf Week is celebrated by the Arab Federation of Organizations Working with the Deaf (AFOWD). Taking part in the activities of the week are national associations of the deaf, their affiliates and supporting organizations in the Arab countries.

AFOWD, based in Damascus, Syria since 1972, is a regional federation composed of 40 member organizations including ministries, national associations of the deaf, and specialized medical associations in the Arab countries. Every year, AFOWD chooses a new theme for the annual week and is highlighted by the different activities throughout the Arab states.

Since the first Arab Deaf Week (ADW) in 1976, the chosen themes have covered many issues including deafness prevention and intervention, the rights of persons with deafness, promotion of their access to education, the right to get education in sign language, and access to information technology and services- as well as highlighting the contributions of people with deafness.

The key message for ADW is very simple: people with deafness have the right to full participation in all aspects of life, and we have to work together in order to achieve better accessibility to education. Themes of the weeks have focused on the main message: “All of us as citizens have to recognize that we are all one though we are not the same."

The observances for the annual week may include events ranging from small events like themed exhibit in one school or a local center to a full week of events and celebrations scheduled throughout a given city or country. The week usually features performing artists, lectures, workshops, art exhibits, film festivals, booths and signs in area shopping malls, as well as different sport competitions and shows.

That observance of ADW in the Arab countries has provided all of us with inspiring examples of the productive partnership among private, nonprofit, and government sectors with the range of activities during the week.

Arab Deaf Week 2014: "The Sports of the Deaf":

Although sporting activities have been an important part of the activities to observe this annual week since 1976, this 2014 theme was chosen to highlight again that the practice of sport is a human right and a need for persons with deafness to fully participate in their communities- the same message of the Arab charter of the deaf that was endorsed and published by AFOWD in 1992.

The theme was also chosen to remind all governments and organizations of the deaf and for the deaf about Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) that calls on states parties to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sporting, recreation, and tourism venues. It also works to ensure that persons with disabilities have an opportunity to organize, develop and participate in disability-specific sporting and recreational activities.

We also endeavor to use this opportunity to urge media in our region to highlight these messages with special reference to the Olympic movement and spirit. The Olympic Charter makes very clear that the practice of sport is a human right and that every individual must have the opportunity to practice sports- without discrimination and in the Olympic spirit- which requires mutual understanding with an atmosphere of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

Challenges to Overcome

Although many steps to shift the approaches toward persons with disabilities from care to rights have been taken during the last three decades, many children with deafness in the Arab countries still have limited access to education as well as information and communication technology- this is especially true for deaf girls and women. Additionally, many deaf people have challenges in securing employment.

All of us have to keep these challenges in minds and continue to both renew and enhance our efforts to build a better future for deaf persons in their societies.

Written by Dr. Ghassan Shahrour, Executive Committee Secretary, Arab Federation of Organizations Working With the Deaf