AMMAN – Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum
(TAG-KF), a member of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global (TAG.Global), has organized a
panel session marking the International Day of ‘Sign Language’ which usually
celebrated on September 23 every year. The session was held in cooperation
between the Public Security Directorate, the Higher Council for the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (HCD), and the All Jordan Youth Commission, with
participation of more than 20 institutions addressing the deafness cases in the
Kingdom.

The panel is part TAG-KF’s national role
and social responsibility to shed light on the challenges people with hearing
loss usually face, and to find solutions for such challenges, with the aim of
building a society where people with disabilities enjoy a decent and
sustainable life with effective participation based on equity and equality.

At the beginning of the session, Dr. Fadi
Daoud, executive director of TAG-KF and TAG.Global Education and Youth
Consultant, emphasized his pride in cooperation with the national institutions
dedicated to helping  people with
disabilities, expressing special gratitude to the HCD for its national efforts
in this field.

The panel included several specialized
sessions with the participation of a group of experts from a number of national
institutions. It was translated into sign language by the President of the
Board of Directors of the first Jordanian Association for Sign Language
Interpreters, Mr. Usama Altahrawi.

Meanwhile, Ms. Ghadeer  Alhares, assistant secretary-general for
technical affairs at the HCD, pointed out the importance of translation from
sign language to written language and vice versa to ensure effective communication
with persons with disabilities.

The Head of Control and Operations
Directorate at the Public Security Directorate, Lieutenant Colonel Amjad Al
Huniti, referred to the people with hearing loss disability’s emergency video
call number (114) launched by the Public Security Directorate, explaining that
hearing disability is one of the highest rates in the society, warning that the
affected persons may experience various types of accidents at any time.

Dr. Samir Samreen, president of the Arab
Organization for Sign Language Interpreters, stated that sign language
interpreters in Jordan are among the most skilled and are considered as role
model in this field, especially since they are the only interpreters in the
region whose  work is based on a
recognized methodology and they all hold a professional license to practice
this profession.

During the sessions, the success story of
Ms. May Bader, president of the Jordanian Woman Development Charitable Society
for the  Deaf, was reviewed. Ms. Bader is
the first Jordanian woman to establish an association that serves women with
hearing loss disability.

Additionally, the All Jordan Youth
Commission-Al-Balqa Branch Coordinator, Mr. Mohannad Al Waked, said that the
Commission’s goal is to empower the capabilities of Jordanian youth in various
aspects, especially the youth with hearing loss disability.

At the end of the gathering, certificates
of attendance were given to a number of deaf who took part in the training
session organized by Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Digital Platform for Youth entitled
“Developing Reading and Writing Skills for People with Hearing Disability.”

It is worth mentioning that the
International Day of Sign Languages is a unique opportunity to support and
protect the linguistic identity and cultural diversity of all deaf people and
sign language users. According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are
more than 70 million deaf people worldwide, 80% of them live in the developing
countries. Collectively, they use more than 300 different sign languages.

To watch the full session, please click
the link: