Engage Sign Language Interpreters At All Events — Otiko Djaba Fights For 'Deaf and Dumb'

The Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation has encouraged Duty Bearers, Government Agencies, Civil Society Organizations and Service Providers to make it mandatory for sign language interpreters to be engaged in all their programmes and activities for the benefit of deaf people in Ghana.

In a statement issued in commemoration of the 2020 International Day of Sign Language, the Executive Director of the Foundation, Dr. Otiko Afisah Djaba made a strong case for Ghana to recognize sign language just like other spoken languages saying, "Sign language is indeed, the spoken language of the deaf."

The statement noted that Ghana has 211,712 persons with hearing and speech impairment, according to the 2010 Housing and Population Census of Ghana. The number is made up of 110,625 deaf and 101,087 persons with speech problems.

"It is very important to accord persons with hearing impairment and the sign language interpreters massive acknowledgement, because, according to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), there are approximately 72 million deaf people worldwide".

The Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation congratulated Sign Language Interpreters in Ghana and the rest of the World for providing inclusion for the deaf through translating spoken languages into sign language and vice versa. This according to the statement is making communication easy and interesting for Deaf people.

"Imagine living in a world Without sign language, the deaf would live in a world of silence".

The 2020 International Day of Sign Language is on the theme - "Language Sign, Language for All".