allAfrica.com: Sierra Leone: Between the Bo Sign Language Training Workshop, Human Rights And Development (Page 1 of 1)

Sierra Leone: Between the Bo Sign Language Training Workshop, Human Rights And Development

Probably, no other issue has been as perplexing and persistent in the deaf community in Sierra Leone as the question of how to integrate the rights of deaf people into human rights and development works at the national and community levels, which is why the Bo sign language workshop organized by El Shammah Mission Sierra Leone between the 13th and 15th March 2008 highlighting the position of sign language used by the deaf people in the country from a standpoint of basic need and basic right must be considered unique.

The position paper presented by the facilitator of the workshop compared sign to spoken language in the global context from a linguistic, socio-linguistic and biological perspective to support the widely held view that sign language is a real language like spoken language. More importantly it demonstrates the link between sign language, human rights and development of deaf people everywhere.

If the right of deaf people as a linguistic minority group is recognized by the constitution in a country, it will make them conscious of themselves as citizens with a common language as a result of which, they will be able to organize and unite into a single national organization to advocate for the recognition of their sign language as a national or local language for deaf people in the country. Similarly, if sign language is recognized at policy level by relevant government departments as a national or local language for deaf people in a country, they will be able to cooperate and work together with existing and relevant institutions to develop a common sign language for use by all deaf people as a medium of communication, accessing information, training, education and employment.

The reality is that sign language does not enjoy equal status with spoken language in many countries particularly in the West African sub region. In Sierra Leone, hearing citizens who use spoken languages are constitutionally recognized as ethno-linguistic groups. On the other hand, deaf citizens who use sign language are not recognized as a language group.

In the same way, the spoken languages used by hearing citizens are classified by relevant government departments into official, wider communication and regional languages in contrast to sign language which does not have any ranking in the country. Moreover, the official spoken English, wider communication Creole and regional languages such as Mende, Temne and Limba are used by various institutions at the community level either as a medium of communication or as subjects of language arts, while sign language has never been accorded any such respect.

The fact that sign language does not enjoy equal status with spoken language in Sierra Leone may mean that perhaps deaf citizens also do not enjoy equal rights with their hearing co-patriots in economic, social, cultural, politics and civil activities in the country. This can be seen from current position of deaf people in Sierra Leone.

The families and teachers of deaf children as well as deaf youth and adults associate with different groups and the groups are not united in the light of which their status as a linguistic minority group is not recognized by the constitution of the country. That besides, they lack awareness about themselves and their linguistic identity in view of which, they find it difficult to advocate for the recognition of sign language as a national or local language for deaf people in the country. They also use different sign languages and their sign language are restricted to their different geographical polities within the four provinces of the country which explains why they find it difficult to develop a common sign language for all deaf people in Sierra Leone.Apart from this, their sign language vocabularies are limited and they face considerable difficulties in using their sign language to read and write in English in consequence of which, their level of literacy is comparatively lower than their hearing counterparts.

The current position of deaf people in Sierra Leone suggest that sign language is both a human rights as well as a development issue. If the status of deaf people as a linguistic minority group is not recognized in a country, they will not be able to organize and unite to advocate for the recognition of their sign language. Conversely, if the status of the sign language used by deaf people in a country is not recognized as a national or local language for the deaf, they will not be able to cooperate and work together with existing institutions to develop a common sign language for communication, accessing information, education and training for all deaf people in the country. In effect the living conditions of deaf people will continue to be poorer.

Human development should lead to the realization of human rights including: economic, social, cultural, political and civil rights. This takes an integrated view of all human rights. What makes the integration of the rights of deaf people into human rights and development works so perplexing and persistent in Sierra Leone is due to the narrow and exclusive focus on political and civil rights by human rights organizations in the country. Granted, the recognition of the status of deaf people as a linguistic minority group in a country guarantees franchise; but then of what use is franchise if deaf citizens cannot claim and exercise their rights to have access to education beyond the primary school level?

The rights-based approach to sustainable development of people with disabilities emphasizes five basic principles: social protection; accessibility, consciousness; influence; and control. The underlying assumption of these principles are that; disabled people have access to housing, health care, rehabilitation services and access devices as well as education, credit, information, income and earning opportunities. It also assumes that; people with disabilities are conscious of their own needs and right; that they are aware of the consequences of neglecting and discriminating attitudes; have equal opportunities to influence decision making processes of participation and takes initiatives to assert their influence and promote awareness of their rights.

These assumptions also embodies the key Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction Strategy papers. For deaf people, sustainable development implies recognition of their linguistic minority group and sign language status. However, the process of recognition of deaf people and their sign language is not a case for constitutionalism, legislation and policy alone. There is need for capacitation, sensitization, advocacy, counseling and networking.

Through these activities, deaf people will be able to take initiatives to assert their influence and promote awareness of their rights to social protection and accessibility.

That is why the Bo Sign Language Training Workshop should be seen as a microcosm for understanding the whole debate about integrating the rights of deaf people into human rights and development works in Sierra Leone.

Editor's Note: Philip Sahr Njepeh is a freelance deaf community development worker

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