Israel co-sponsored the International Sign Language Day, which was marked at the United Nations in Geneva on September 19, 2019.
Thank you, Madam Moderator.
At the outset, Israel would like to thank Brazil for organizing this event, to all our partners who join us on marking the International Day of Sign Languages, and to the panelists for their interesting and inspiring presentations.
With Resolution 72/161, the General Assembly gave a key step to raise awareness on the importance of sign languages. It recognized that sign languages “are fully fledged natural languages, structurally distinct from spoken languages, alongside which they coexist”. It recognized further that they are “vital to the growth and development of the deaf individual and critical to the achievement of the internationally agreed SDGs”.
In this context, let me add to the presentations from the panelists some information regarding what Israel is doing to integrate the sign language.
- Israeli Sign Language (ISL) is a visual and spatial language, which serves most of the Israeli Deaf community, including Jewish and Arab native speakers as well as immigrants from around the world. There are over 300,000 deaf and hard of hearing individuals in Israel, including an estimated 10,000 Israeli Sign Language users. Linguistically speaking, like other sign languages, it is a natural, concise and complete language expressed through the use of manual, facial and other body movements.
- Several thousand signs were compiled into a revolutionary online ISL dictionary. The dictionary, created by The Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel, aims to increase the number of documented signs in Israeli Sign Language, to meet the needs of a wide and varied audience and to be accessible in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Russian. Each word is illustrated in a separate video clip, which clearly shows the full make-up of the word, including the shape of the hand, the direction of the movement, and the accompanying facial expression and movement.
- Moreover, the Israeli company Ma’gelei Shema operates a one of a kind Video Relay System (VRS) interpreting platform. The VRS platform is an innovative, technological solution developed by The Institute for the Advancement of the Deaf in Israel (now part of Ma’agelei Shema). It enables direct communication between hearing and deaf individuals without the need to be face to face or to have an interpreter physically present. The deaf person calls the hearing person and the call is routed through the VRS system, which provides simultaneous interpreting or transcription. The VRS is particularly important for deaf individuals who live in the peripheral areas, where there are fewer interpreters, in peak periods when demand for interpreters is high, and in all cases where the deaf person needs to communicate directly with a hearing person. This includes access to medical care, human rights, employees’ rights, contacting municipalities, etc. – situations in which a hearing person merely picks up the phone.
- Israel also recognizes and supports the needs of the Deaf-Blind persons in Israel. Therefore, The Center for Deaf-Blind Persons introduced the profession of Support Service Providers (SSP’s) to Israel, including training and employing them. SSP’s relay visual and environmental information to the deaf-blind person, enabling them to go out when they want, to locations of their choice, and to make independent decisions. This enables access to health care, stores, social contact, offices and more – all without dependence on busy and untrained family or friends.
These are only some examples of the work done in Israel. Here in Geneva, we are members of the HRC’s Task Force on Accessibility, and we are committed to ensure that all panels are accessible, including captioning and sign language, and regardless of the topic in question. Along with other delegations, we encourage and support ensuring accessibility not only when discussing person with disabilities’ rights.
Israel strongly believes in the power of actions. We are therefore committed to work to ensure that the principle of “leaving no one behind” turns into a reality, and not mere words.
I thank you Madam Moderator.