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Resolution 2247 (2018)
Protecting and promoting sign languages in Europe
1. Sign languages are the natural
languages of millions of people worldwide. They are a means of communication
and a vehicle for ensuring the inclusion of deaf people in society.
However, few States have recognised sign languages as official languages,
and access to education and public services using sign languages
remains limited.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly believes that the official recognition
of sign languages can make all the difference in terms of access
to education, public services, employment and participation in political
life. It refers to its Recommendation
1492 (2001) on the rights of national minorities, in
particular its paragraph 12.xiii on sign languages, and Recommendation 1598 (2003) on
the protection of sign languages in the member States of the Council
of Europe, in which it recognises sign languages as “the expression
of Europe’s cultural wealth” and took the view that “official recognition
of these languages will help deaf people to become integrated into
society and gain access to justice, education and employment”. It
also refers to its Resolution 2155
(2017) “The political rights of persons with disabilities:
a democratic issue”, which calls for the official recognition of
sign languages.
3. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, which is the international benchmark in the field
of protecting the rights of people with disabilities and ensuring
their inclusion, calls for the official recognition of sign languages
and access to sign language interpretation in public services.
4. The Assembly is convinced that official recognition of sign
languages signals recognition of the culture of deaf people and
awareness of the aspirations of the deaf community. It welcomes
the publication, in spring 2019, of an empirical study on the status
of sign languages in Europe, under the aegis of the Finnish presidency of
the Committee of Ministers.
5. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on
Council of Europe member States to:
5.1. recognise sign languages as official languages, if this
is not already the case, in the constitution or by means of a specific
law;
5.2. ensure that deaf people have access to public services
by providing sign language interpretation;
5.3. ensure inclusive education, offer deaf children education
in sign languages and, where necessary, sign language interpretation;
5.4. train teachers in sign languages;
5.5. offer sign language lessons for parents and siblings of
deaf children;
5.6. support the training and recruitment of sign language
interpreters to assist deaf people;
5.7. support the creation and broadcasting of cultural programmes
in sign languages and broadcast television programmes with sign
language interpretation;
5.8. support the teaching of sign languages beyond the deaf
community, including in kindergartens;
5.9. support research and development in technologies to assist
deaf people;
5.10. support the Council of Europe’s European Centre for Modern
Languages, in particular its activities concerning sign languages;
5.11. provide, on a voluntary basis, information on the use
and protection of sign languages to the Committee of Experts of
the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (COMEX)
which may be useful in the event of future discussions on this topic;
5.12. run awareness-raising campaigns to deconstruct negative
stereotypes about deaf people and celebrate the International Day
of Sign Languages on 23 September by proposing activities to promote sign
languages.
6. The Assembly calls on national parliaments to ensure sign
language interpretation of debates and to broadcast them on television
and on the internet.
7. It also calls on political parties to provide sign language
interpretation at their congresses and large-scale conferences so
as to ensure the participation of deaf people at these events and
encourage them to participate in political life.
8. The Assembly welcomes the activities to promote and protect
sign languages undertaken by non-governmental organisations and
calls for them to be supported.