The United Nations General Assembly designated the International Day of Sign Languages, 23 September, an occasion that marks a chance to celebrate and protect the language and culture of deaf people and sign language users, giving deaf people the chance to fully exercise their human rights. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 430 million people across the globe live with some degree of hearing loss. Within that group, more than 70 million are deaf, the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), an international non-governmental organisation representing and promoting deaf rights, reveals. Worldwide, over 80 percent of deaf individuals live in developing countries, relying on more than 300 distinct sign languages to communicate. While there is no official number for the hard-of-hearing people in Egypt, the WFD reports that there are more than 7.5 million individuals who are deaf or mute in the nation. Egypt’s deaf community primarily communicates through Egyptian Sign Language (ESL), which is distinct from other sign languages and has its own vocabulary and grammar. The language developed within Egypt’s deaf communities, with efforts to document and standardize it beginning in the 1980s, when the National…
Sign Language Day Brings Attention to Egyptians’ Deaf Rights
September 23, 2025
