The 17th session of the Conference of State Parties to the CRPD (COSP17) took place from 11-13 June 2024 in New York. The overarching theme was “Rethinking disability inclusion in the current international juncture and ahead of the Summit of the Future”. The Conference of State Parties is an annual event organised by the United Nations. During the Conference, participants discuss the implementation of the CRPD.
Participants include representatives of the State Parties (countries and regional organisations that ratified the Convention), civil society organisations (such as organisations of persons with disabilities) and disability rights experts (such as the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities and academics).
During every COSP, there is an election for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This year, for the first time, the EU nominated a candidate – Ms Inmaculada Placencia Porrero – who was elected. We wish to congratulate Inmaculada and look forward to working with her to further the rights of deaf people in the EU, in line with the CRPD. Moreover, this year, Hiroshi Tamon, was the second deaf candidate to ever be elected to the Committee! We wish to congratulate Mr Tamon – we are delighted to have a deaf Committee member, representing the perspective of our community!
EUD submitted an intervention for the General Discussion of this year’s COSP, calling the EU to legally recognise the 30 National Sign Language as official EU languages and the European Parliament to allow deaf people to table petitions in their national sign languages. Read the full intervention below.
EUD Statement during the COSP 17 General Debate
Theme: Rethinking disability inclusion in the current international juncture and ahead of the Summit of the Future
Thank you Chair,
Distinguished delegates,
The European Union of the Deaf (EUD) – the representative organisation of all deaf people in the European Union – welcomes the 17th Session of the Conference of the State Parties and its commitment to renew all efforts towards harmonising national and regional policies with the CRPD. The EU, as the only Regional State Party to the CRPD, should further efforts to implement all its provisions, particularly Article 21(b) and (e), obliging States Parties to recognise and promote the use of national sign languages.
Yet, deaf people in the EU face significant barriers when exercising their rights under the CRPD: information is not imparted in their national sign languages and the opportunities to communicate through their preferred languages are limited. This is caused by a structural lack of recognition of national sign languages as full languages by the EU. The EU presents a linguistically rich and diverse landscape with 24 spoken languages and 30 national sign languages. Yet, the 30 national sign languages do not enjoy official language status despite having ratified the CRPD and its 27 Member States havinglegally recognised their national sign languages.
In 2016, EUD submitted a petition to the European Parliament to allow deaf people to table petitions in their national sign languages, in line with Article 21(b) CRPD. 8 years later, our request has not been granted yet despite its technical feasibility, its minimal budget implications, and the huge potential for the inclusion of deaf people it will unlock.
We are calling the EU to legally recognise the 30 National Sign Language as official EU languages and the European Parliament to allow deaf people to table petitions in their national sign languages. This will pave the way to an inclusive future where all deaf people are no longer left behind.
The future is inclusion! Inclusion of deaf people is achieved through their National Sign Language!
Thank you.
