Education, employment, public services: the major challenges of inclusion for deaf people

Despite progress made in supporting people with disabilities, deaf people still face numerous difficulties in accessing social services, education, training, and employment. This issue was brought to the forefront of discussions in Thiès during the 9th International Day of Sign Languages.

The Minister of Family, Social Action and Solidarity, Marie Angélique Mame Selbé Diouf, stressed the need to make inclusion a concrete reality. "Recognizing sign languages means fully recognizing the rights of deaf people and their place in our society," she declared.

For the minister, access to adapted communication is an essential condition for the exercise of the rights of deaf people. She therefore advocates developing the teaching of sign language and generalizing the use of sign language interpretation and subtitling in public communication.

Access to basic social services, healthcare, vocational training and employment is also among the challenges identified.

The minister also wants to strengthen early detection and care for hearing impairments, while facilitating access for deaf people to digital technologies.

Marie Angélique Mame Selbé Diouf acknowledged the progress made by the State, citing in particular the equal opportunities card, specialized and inclusive education, social protection programs, and support for the economic initiatives of deaf people. However, she believes that efforts must continue to go beyond the framework of public policies.

"Inclusion cannot be decreed; it is built every day," she insisted, calling on administrations, local authorities, organizations of disabled people, families, the private sector and development partners to get more involved.

The minister also made a special appeal on behalf of deaf children and young people: "Every deaf child must be able to learn, every deaf young person must be able to train, every deaf woman and man must be able to work, undertake projects, express themselves and contribute fully to the development of our country."