Page No 1 - World Federation of the Deaf

The Project was under the auspices of the Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR) and the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), Page No 1 

and funded by the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Sida) and Swedish Organisations’ of Disabled Persons 

International Aid Association (Shia).

Global Survey Report 

WFD Regional Secretariat for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean 

Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People 

Compiled by Mr Colin Allen 

Project Co-ordinator 

World Federation of the Deaf and Swedish National Association of the Deaf 

Published in June 2008 

Front Page Cover Designer: Mr Dušan Nikolić 

Please contact: 

General Secretariat 

World Federation of the Deaf 

PO Box 65 

FIN-00401 

Helsinki, Finland 

Email: info@wfdeaf.org 

Website: www.wfdeaf.org 

Funded by the Swedish Agency for International Development Co-operation (SIDA) and Swedish Organisations of 

Disabled Persons International Aid Association (Shia). 

Co-partnered by the Danish Deaf Association (DDL), Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD), Norwegian Association 

of the Deaf (NDF) and Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR). 

© Copyright by the World Federation of the Deaf and Swedish National Association of the Deaf 

All rights reserved. When referring to or quoting any part of the report it is required that the publisher and the 

original publication be mentioned in the following form: ‘Global Survey Report WFD Regional Secretariat for Mexico, 

Central America and the Caribbean (WFD MCAC) by the World Federation of the Deaf and the Swedish National 

Association of the Deaf, 2008’. 

ISBN 978-952-9648-09-2 




Table of Contents 

1.0 Appreciation 7 

2.0 Introduction 8 

3.0 Methodology 

10 

3.1 Development of Survey Questionnaire 

10 

3.2 Implementation of the Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the 

Human Rights of Deaf People in WFD MCAC 

10 

3.3 Reporting 

11 

3.4 Regional Working Group Meeting 

11 

4.0 Executive Summary of Survey Results 

12 

4.1 Background of the Country Respondents 

12 

4.1.1 Classification of the Developing Countries/Developed 

Countries 

12 

4.1.2 Contact Details of Country Respondents 

13 

4.1.3 Country Respondent Memberships 

13 

4.1.4 Background of the Country Respondents 

13 

4.2 Population of Deaf People 

15 

4.3 Legislation and Policies 

16 

4.4 Access to Government Services 

17 

4.5 Access to the Media 

18 

4.6 Status of the National Sign Language(s) 

18 

4.7 Access to Education 

18 

4.8 Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services 

20 

4.9 Employment 

22 

4.10 General Comments 

23 

5.0 Recommendations 

25 

5.1 Increase Knowledge of the United Nations Conventions 

25 

5.2 Training on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons 

with Disabilities (CRPD) 

25 

5.3 Training for the National Association of the Deaf and Deaf 

Groups/Organisations 

25 

5.4 Organisational Development Training for Board and Senior Management 26 

5.5 Organisational Review and Training for the Deaf Community 

26 

5.6 Advocacy for the Improvement of the Standard of Living for Deaf 

People 

26 

5.7 Further Situation Analysis Research in the Mexico, Central America and 

Caribbean Region 

27 

6.0 Geography and Population 

28 

6.1 Costa Rica 

28 

6.2 Cuba 

28 

6.3 Dominican Republic 

29 

6.4 El Salvador 

29 

6.5 Guatemala 

29 

6.6 Guyana 

30 

6.7 Haiti 

30 

6.8 Honduras 

30 

6.9 Mexico 

31 

6.10 Nicaragua 

31 

6.11 Panama 

32 

6.12 Suriname 

32 

7.0 Survey Results 

33 

7.1.0 Contact Details 

33 

7.2.0 National Association of the Deaf 

37 

7.2.1 Please provide the number of members your National Association of the 

Deaf/Deaf Group has in your country. 

37 

7.2.1.1 Deaf Members 

37 

7.2.1.2 Hard of Hearing Members 

37 

7.2.1.3 Hearing Members 

37 

7.2.1.4 Summary Status of the Associations’/Groups’ Memberships 

38 

7.2.2 In what year was your National Association/Deaf Group established? 

38 

7.2.3 Does your Deaf Association/Deaf Group have Statutes/a Constitution? 38 

7.2.4 Does your government recognise your national organisation as the 

representative of Deaf people in your country? 

38 

7.2.5 Please list some of the areas in which your association/group has 

adopted a policy statement. 

38 

7.2.6 Please list the six highest priority issues/actions in your strategic action 

plan. 

39 




7.2.7 Please describe the structure of your National Association of the Deaf/ 

Deaf Group (e.g. Congress/annual meeting/board/executive/districts 

/local associations and so forth). 

7.2.7.1 How many affiliated regional and/or local Deaf Associations 

are part of your National Association of the Deaf? 

7.2.8 How many of your board members are Deaf? 

7.2.9 How many members of the board are Deaf women and how many are 

Deaf men? 

7.2.10 Does your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group have 

committees for specific areas of interest or affiliation with any other 

relevant independent groups in your country? 

7.2.11 Does your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group have any paid 

staff members? 

7.2.11.1 How many of the paid staff members are women and how 

many are men? 

7.2.11.2 How many of the paid staff members are Deaf? 

7.2.12 Is your Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director/Person-In-Charge 

Deaf? 

7.3.0 Population of Deaf People 

7.3.1 Does your country’s government have any official number of Deaf 

people in your country? 

7.3.2 Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate figures 

of the number of Deaf people living in your country? 

7.3.3 Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate 

numbers of Deaf people who use sign language as their primary 

language? 

7.3.4 Does the situation of HIV/AIDS in your country affect Deaf women, men 

and children? 

7.4.0 Legislation and Policies 

7.4.1 Does your country’s government recognise Deaf people as citizens on 

an equal basis as other citizens in your country? 

7.4.2 Does your country’s government have an office responsible for services 

for People with Disabilities? 

7.4.2.1 If yes, what is the name, address and website of the 

government office that is responsible for services for People 

with Disabilities in your country? 

7.4.3 Does your country’s Government have any legislation or policies for 

Deaf people (or People with Disabilities in general)? 

7.4.3.1 If yes, please list some of the policies or legislation that 

relate to Deaf people (or People with Disabilities). 

7.4.4 Does your country’s Government have any anti-discrimination laws for 

Deaf people (or People with Disabilities)? 

7.4.5 Does your country’s government provide any services specifically for 

the Deaf Community through its government departments? 

7.4.5.1 If yes, what types of service are provided specifically for the 

Deaf Community by your country’s government? 

7.4.5.2 What is the general opinion of the current service(s) 

specifically provided for the Deaf Community by your 

country’s government? 

7.4.5.3 If no, why does your country’s government not provide any 

service specifically for the Deaf Community? 

7.4.6 Does your Association/Group have any contact with your current 


7.4.6.1 What type of contact does your Association/Group have with 

your country’s current government? 

7.4.7 Does your Association/Group receive any financial support from your 

country’s current government? 

7.4.7.1 What is the amount of annual financial support from your 


7.4.7.2 What is the purpose of the financial support from your 

country’s government to the Deaf Community? 

7.4.8 Do Deaf people have a right to vote in national, regional and local 

elections? 

7.4.9 Are Deaf people allowed to obtain a driver’s licence? 

7.4.10 Are Deaf people allowed to marry Deaf or other partners? 

7.4.11 Are Deaf people allowed to have children? 

7.4.12 Are Deaf people allowed to adopt children? 

7.4.12.1 If Deaf people are not allowed to drive, please list the 

Government legislation or policy that stops them from being 

allowed to drive. 



International Aid Association (Shia). 

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7.4.12.2 If Deaf people are not allowed to adopt children, please list 

any specific Government legislation or policy that stops Deaf 

people from being allowed to adopt children. 

7.5.0 Access to Government Services 

7.5.1 Do Deaf people have access to government services such as education, 

health care, employment, social welfare and any general government 

services? 

7.5.1.1 If yes, how do Deaf people access these government services? 

7.5.1.2 Are Deaf people satisfied with the level of access they have to 

the government services? 

7.5.2 Are Deaf people entitled to any financial assistance from your country’s 

government? 

7.5.2.1 What type of financial assistance are Deaf people entitled to 

receive from your country’s government? 

7.6.0 Access to the Media 

7.6.1 Does your country’s government provide sign language services for 

news and/or current affairs programmes on public television? 

7.6.2 Does your country’s government provide subtitles/captions for news 

and/or current affairs programmes? 

7.6.3 Does your country’s government offer governmental documents in your 

country’s sign language(s)? 

7.7.0 Status of the National Sign Language(s) 

7.7.1 Does your country’s government formally recognise your country’s sign 

language(s)? 

7.7.1.1 What legislation/regulation formally recognises your country’s 

sign language(s)? 

7.7.1.2 When did your country’s government formally recognise your 

country’s sign language(s)? 

7.7.1.3 Does your Deaf Association lobby your government for the 

recognition of your country’s sign language(s)? 

7.7.1.4 If no, please explain the reason your Association does not 

lobby your current government for the recognition of your 

country’s sign language(s). 

7.7.2 Does your country have a sign language dictionary? 

7.8.0 Access to Education 

7.8.1 Does your country’s government recognise that Deaf children and Deaf 

students have the right to receive an education? 

7.8.2 Does your country’s government have any legislation or policies on Deaf 

Education? 

7.8.2.1 If yes, please list the specific name of the legislation or 

policies relating to Deaf Education. 

7.8.3 Does your country’s government provide any of the following 

educational settings for Deaf children and Deaf students? 

7.8.4 Does your country’s government provide bilingual education using your 

country’s sign language(s) for Deaf children and Deaf students in your 

country? 

7.8.4.1 If yes, in which educational setting is bilingual education 

offered in your country using your sign language(s)? 

7.8.5 Does your country have any schools specifically for Deaf children and 

Deaf students? 

7.8.5.1 If yes, how many Deaf schools does your country have? 

7.8.5.2 What is the educational approach for communicating with 

Deaf children and students at the Deaf School in your country? 

7.8.6 What is the general opinion of the level of education received 

by Deaf children and Deaf students in your country? 

7.8.7 What is the general opinion of the current literacy level of Deaf 

children and Deaf students in your country? 

7.8.8 Do Deaf people have access to a University education in your country? 

7.8.8.1 If yes, how many Universities provide access to studies for 

Deaf people in your country? 

7.8.8.2 If no, why do Deaf people not have access to a University 

education in your country? 

7.8.9 Do Deaf people have full access to sign language interpreting services 

at University? 

7.9.0 Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services 

7.9.1 Does your country have any sign language interpreters? 

7.9.1.1 How many sign language interpreters does your country have? 

7.9.1.2 Are there any sign language interpreting qualifications 

available in your country? 

7.9.1.3 Who provides the training for people who want to become 

qualified sign language interpreters? 




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7.9.1.4 How many years of training are available to someone who 

wants to become a sign language interpreter? 

7.9.1.5 How many sign language interpreters in your country have 

formal interpreting qualifications? 

7.9.1.6 How do Deaf people access sign language interpreters? 

7.9.2 Does your country have sign language interpreting services? 

7.9.2.1 If yes, who provides these sign language interpreting services? 

7.9.2.2 In what areas of life are sign language interpreting services 


7.9.2.3 What is the general opinion of these sign language interpreting 

services? 

7.9.3 Do sign language interpreters receive payment for interpreting services 

in your country? 

7.9.3.1 Who is responsible for paying for a sign language interpreter? 

7.9.3.2 What is the average hourly rate of payment for sign language 

interpreters in your country? 

7.9.3.3 Do your sign language interpreters provide voluntary service 

for all sign language interpreting assignments? 

7.9.4 Does your country have a National Association of Sign Language 

Interpreters? 

7.9.4.1 Is your National Association of Sign Language Interpreters 

independent from your National Association of the Deaf? 

7.9.5 Is there a national Code of Ethics for sign language interpreters 


7.9.6 Is there any legislation or policy in your country which states that the 

government has a responsibility for the provision of sign language 

interpreting services? 

7.9.6.1 If yes, please list the legislation or policies that specifically 

state the government has a responsibility for the provision of 

sign language interpreting services. 

7.10.0 Employment 

7.10.1 Does your country’s government consider that Deaf people have a right 

to be employed and earn a standard salary? 

7.10.2 Does your country’s government have any anti-discrimination laws in 

the area of employment, especially for Deaf people or People with 

Disabilities? 

7.10.2.1 If yes, please write clearly the name of any legislation or 

policy that relates to anti-discrimination in employment. 

7.10.3 Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate figures 

on the number of Deaf people who are in paid employment in your 

country? 

7.10.3.1 If yes, how many Deaf people are in employment? 

7.10.3.2 What are the most common areas of work for Deaf people in 

your country? 

7.10.4 Does your country have any figures on the percentage of Deaf people 

who are unemployed? 

7.10.4.1 Why are Deaf people unemployed in your country? 

7.10.5 Does your country provide employment services to assist unemployed 

Deaf people to look for employment? 

7.10.5.1 Who is responsible for providing employment services for 

unemployed Deaf people in your country? 

7.11.0 General 

7.11.1 Which of the following does your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf 

Group consider to be the highest priority for your Deaf Community? 

7.11.2 Does your Association/Group have any other concerns about the 

standard of living of Deaf people in your country? 

8.0 Appendices: 

Appendix No 1 Cover Letter 

Appendix No 2 Global Human Rights Survey 




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1.0 Appreciation 

The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and the Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR) wish to recognise the cooperation 

and support from organisations and individuals who contributed their valuable time to the fourth phase of the sevenregion 

Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People. This fourth phase took place in the WFD 

Regional Secretariat in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (WFD MCAC). 

The funding organisations: 

• Swedish Organisations of Disabled Persons International Aid Association (Shia) 

• Co-partners Danish Deaf Association (DDL), Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD), Norwegian Association of the Deaf 

(NDF) and Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR) 

The members of the Project Steering Committee: 

• Mr Tomas Hedberg, Sign Language Policy Co-ordinator, Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR) 

• Mr Feliciano Sola Limia, Vice President, World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) 

• Ms Meri Hyrske-Fischer, Project Manager, World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) 

• Ms Anneli Joneken, Project Co-ordinator, Swedish Organisations of Disabled Persons International Aid Association 

(Shia) 

The members of WFD MCAC, who co-operated so efficiently: 

• Mr Gerardo E. Carrillo Naranjo, Regional Director, WFD MCAC 

• Mr Alan Fernández, Regional Co-ordinator, WFD MCAC Global Human Rights Project 

The members of Regional Working Group of the Global Human Rights Pre-Planning Project in WFD MCAC: 

• Ms Orquidea Centendo, Honduras 

• Ms Ileana Estrada, Guatemala 

• Mr Jose Gaspar Sanabria, Mexico 

The eight Ordinary Members of WFD MCAC who responded to the survey: 

1. Costa Rican National Association of the Deaf 

2. Cuban National Association of the Deaf 

3. National Association of the Deaf of the Dominican Republic 

4. Salvadorian Association of the Deaf 

5. Guatemala Deaf Association 

6. Mexican Deaf Federation 

7. Nicaraguan National Association of the Deaf 

8. National Deaf Association of Panama 

The four countries in Central America and the Caribbean who are not WFD Ordinary Members, who also responded to the 

survey: 

1. Support Group for Deaf Persons in Guyana 

2. Centre of Assistance for People with Hearing Problems in Haiti 

3. Honduras Deaf Association 

4. Suriname Deaf Association 

Not least, others who have supported the project: 

• Mr Markku Jokinen, President, World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) 

• Ms Liz Scott Gibson, President, World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI) 

• Mr Knud Søndergaard, Finance Officer, World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) 

• Ms Veronica Moar Suarez, Assistant to WFD Vice-President, Federation of Deaf People's Associations in Galicia, Spain 

• Staff members of the Albanian National Association of the Deaf (ANAD) 

• Ms Phillipa Sandholm, Administrative Assistant, World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) 

• Ms Carol-lee Aquiline, English Grammar Editor for the Project Reports 

• Ms Corrie Tijsseling, WFD Expert in Deaf Education 

• Ms Vera Jovanović, Ms Desanka Žižić and Mr Boba Milošević, Film Production Team for the DVD in International Sign 

• Everyone who contributed time to the Global Human Rights Pre-Planning Project 




2.0 Introduction 

The Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR) is the national organisation of Deaf people in Sweden and an Ordinary 

Member of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). SDR has been involved in 20 international projects with Deaf people in 

Africa, Asia, Central America and the Russian Federation, with expertise in the fields of Deaf Education, Sign Language, Deaf 

Women and Children, Sign Language Interpreters, Organisational Development and Income Generating Activities. SDR is a 

member of Shia (Swedish Organisations of Handicapped International Aid Association) an umbrella organisation for 

developmental co-operation of Disability Organisations. Shia was founded in 1981 in connection with “The UN Year of People 

with Disabilities” and when the Disability Decade began. Today there are 28 member organisations affiliated with Shia. 

SDR has had contact with many Deaf organisations in developing countries and recognises that approximately 90% of the 

world's Deaf people have never been to school and are thus more or less illiterate. Sign language is repressed in many 

countries and its use is not permitted in education. The consequence is that Deaf people are not aware of the rights they have 

in society, but live as a highly marginalised group in most developing countries. There is usually no access to information for 

Deaf people, which means that they do not even know what is happening in their immediate society and even less so in the 

world. Of the world's Deaf people only about five percent (5%) can read and write. This is due to the fact that Deaf people 

have not been educated in sign language. Improving the status of sign language has consequences for all areas of life for Deaf 

people; it opens up possibilities for participation, information and influence, and reduction of poverty. 

SDR approached WFD to become a partner organisation because WFD is an international organisation with global coverage 

although not all countries in the world are members. In order to reach as many Deaf people as possible in this project, WFD is 

a natural choice for SDR, as it is one of WFD's member organisations. 

WFD was established in 1951 and acts as an interest group representing Deaf people who use sign language. WFD works in 

partnership with the United Nations (UN) and its agencies and member states, other international organisations, national 

organisations of Deaf people, Regional Secretariats and experts. With these partners WFD pursues the rights of Deaf people to 

participate in society, the State and other areas of life as equal citizens. 

WFD has a large network with seven Regional Secretariats, national organisations of Deaf people in 130 member countries and 

experts within different areas: training, sign language, technology and accessibility, women's issues, human rights, health, 

employment and developing countries. 

SDR approached the Nordic Council of the Deaf to request that the four Nordic Ordinary Members of WFD become involved as 

co-partners in the project; these four members are the Danish Deaf Association (DDL), Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD), 

Norwegian Association of the Deaf (NDF) and Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR). SDR forwarded a project proposal 

to Shia to carry out pre-planning survey work in conjunction with seven of WFD's regions; the proposal was granted funding for 

a pre-planning survey in the 

• Eastern Europe and Middle Asia Regional Secretariat of the WFD (WFD EEMARS) 

• WFD Regional Secretariat for Asia and the Pacific (WFD RSA/P) 

• WFD Regional Secretariat for South America (WFD RSSA) 

• WFD Regional Secretariat for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (WFD MCAC) 

• WFD Regional Secretariat for Eastern and Southern Africa (WFD RSESA) 

• WFD Interim Regional Secretariat for Western and Central Africa Region (WFD WCAR) 

• WFD Interim Regional Secretariat for the Arab Region (WFD RSAR) 

Goals of the pre-planning survey 

• Compilation of an analysis of the situation for Deaf people in each of the seven regions according to a common 

questionnaire. Data is to be produced from three of the regions during the first year of pre-planning and from four of 

the regions during the second year of pre-planning. 

• Production of documentation of assessment of the capacity of the national organisations and the regional structure in 

each region. 

• Production of an education plan for three of the regions during the first year of pre-planning and for four of the 

regions during the second year of pre-planning. 

• Development of training materials, methodologies and pre-planning organisational work to be used in the project. 

• Compilation of a global training plan on human rights for the WFD organisations to use as the basis for a complete 

project application to be submitted to Shia during autumn 2008 for consideration for budget 2009. 

Project Steering Committee 

A Project Steering Committee was formed to overview the survey work carried out by the Project Co-ordinator. The members 

of the Steering Committee are: 

• Mr Tomas Hedberg, Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR) 

• Mr Feliciano Sola Limia, World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) 

• Ms Meri Hyrske-Fischer, World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) 

• Ms Anneli Joneken, Swedish Organisations of Disabled Persons International Aid Association (Shia) 





SDR and WFD approached the Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD) to manage the project; and FAD appointed Mr Colin Allen 

to take on the role of Project Co-ordinator and oversee project management within the seven regions between July 2007 and 

December 2008. Mr Allen is based in Belgrade, Serbia where he has been associated with other FAD projects within the Balkan 

Region. 

WFD MCAC Regional Co-ordinator and Regional Working Group: 

The position of a Regional Co-ordinator was established for each survey region. The Steering Committee agreed to appoint Mr 

Allan Fernández as Regional Co-ordinator for the WFD MCAC region. Mr Allan Fernandez, who is based in San Jose, Costa Rica, 

was responsible to establish a communication network with the members of WFD MCAC as well as to co-ordinate the meeting 

for the Regional Working Group. 

Each survey region also had their own Regional Working Group and the WFD MCAC Regional Working Group had three 

members: 

• Ms Orquidea Centendo, Honduras 

• Ms Ileana Estrada, Guatemala 

• Mr Jose Gaspar Sanabria, Mexico 

Mr Gerardo E. Carrillo Naranjo, Regional Director of WFD MCAC, was invited as an observer to the WFD MCAC Regional Working 

Group meeting. 

The members of the Regional Working Group were responsible to acknowledge the Survey Results as they were received from 

12 country members and non-members of WFD MCAC. They had a pivotal role in preparing a list of recommendations for the 

training project work to be carried out for their region in the next stage of the project. 

Please note: 

Mr Jose Gaspar Sanabria Mr Allan Fernandez Mr Gerardo E. Carrillo Naranjo 

Ms Orquidea Centendo Ms Ileana Estrada 

The pre-planning survey is a basic situational analysis that aims to collect information from relevant representatives and is not 

intended to be a complete in-depth analysis of the situation of Deaf persons in WFD MCAC. The data and issues presented in 

this report are based on the information received from these representatives and members of WFD MCAC. 

Additional notes: 

Terminology used in this report is taken from the survey. 

Each country’s exchange rate into Euro Currency is based on the rate given on 31 st January 2008 on the website 

www.oanda.com/convert/classic. 




3.0 Methodology 

3.1 Development of Survey Questionnaire 

According to the framework of the Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People, the Project Coordinator 

developed a survey questionnaire to collect information on the standard of living of Deaf people in all of the seven 

WFD Regional Secretariats, focussing on the areas of: 

1. Status of the National Deaf Association 

2. Population of Deaf People 

3. Legislation and Policies 

4. Access to Government Services 

5. Access to the Media 

6. Status of the National Sign Language(s) 

7. Access to Education 

8. Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services 

9. Employment Status of Deaf People 

The Project Co-ordinator had prior experience in survey work with Deaf people in developing countries, having conducted the 

FAD – Balkan Survey Project in the countries of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey 

between 2004 and 2006. Therefore, some of the Balkan Survey Questions were simply modified for this Global Survey work. 

The Project Co-ordinator also liaised with the President of the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI) for her 

guidance on relevant questions regarding the Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services. 

The questionnaire was intended to ensure that all appropriate data was received from each member within the Regional 

Secretariat. The survey questions were approved by the Project Steering Committee prior to commencement of the Global 

Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People. The questionnaire is available at the end of this report – 

Appendix No 2. 

3.2 Implementation of the Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People in WFD MCAC 

Subsequent to the appointment of the Regional Co-ordinator for WFD MCAC, the Project Co-ordinator and Regional Coordinator 

co-operated in confirming contact addresses for the nine country members of WFD MCAC and one non-member of 

WFD MCAC. The Project Co-ordinator filmed the survey questions in International Sign on a DVD that was disseminated along 

with the survey questionnaire in written Spanish. One of the countries requested the survey in written French. The Regional 

Co-ordinator prepared the survey package and arranged for it to be mailed from San Jose, Costa Rica, to 

Nine (9) WFD Ordinary (Country) Members in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean: 

1. Belize National Association of the Deaf 









The Regional Co-ordinator also sent the survey package to Honduras, a country that is not a WFD Ordinary Member. 

During the Regional Working Group Meeting, participants discussed and agreed to email the survey to five additional countries 

in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean that also are not WFD Ordinary Members: 

1. Guyana 

2. Haiti (French Survey) 

3. Suriname 

4. Trinidad and Tobago 

5. West Indies 

The Global Survey was thus distributed to a total of 15 countries in the Mexico, Central America and Caribbean region. 




3.3 Reporting 

The Regional Co-ordinator was the central contact point for collection of the survey. Eleven of 12 countries responded in 

Spanish. The Regional Co-ordinator translated the Spanish answers into English for the Project Co-ordinator, with the aid of an 

Internet translation service (http://babelfish.altavista.com/). One of the respondents replied in French, and the Project Coordinator 

used an Internet translation service to translate this into English. The Regional Co-ordinator and Project Coordinator 

used video live chat (www.ooVoo.com) several times to discuss some issues. 

The Project Co-ordinator designed a basic data programme with Excel software to record respondent country answers for all 

surveys received from the Regional Co-ordinator, i.e. 12 respondent countries. He was then responsible for summarising the 

results into categorised sections of the report, available under “Survey Results” on page 33. The Project Co-ordinator also 

prepared the “Executive Summary”, found on page 12. 

Once the report was drafted the Regional Working Group gave comments and feedback, which were then taken into 

consideration in the editing phase of the report. 

A copy will be sent to all members of WFD MCAC, WFD, Danish Deaf Association (DDL), Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD), 

Norwegian Association of the Deaf (NDF), Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR), World Association of Sign Language 

Interpreters (WASLI), Shia and other interested organisations. A compilation of the most relevant information from all reports 

will be available at the end of the project. 

3.4 Regional Working Group Meeting 

The members of the Regional Working Group and the Regional Co-ordinator met with the Project Co-ordinator in San Jose, 

Chile, on 25 th – 27 th March 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the major findings from the Survey Results and 

enable the Regional Working Group to identify priority issues to be acknowledged. The members of the Regional Working 

Group also had training on issues such as: 

a) Background of the World Federation of the Deaf 

b) Human Rights through Sign Languages 

c) Introduction of the Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People 

d) Brief Introduction to International Human Rights Instruments: 

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

2. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 

3. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 

4. Convention on the Rights of the Child 

5. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women 

e) Periodic reporting, the new system of Universal Periodic Reviews and also shadow/alternative reports from NGOs 

f) UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 

The Regional Working Group summarised the high priority issues to be addressed for further training for the members of WFD 

MCAC. These can be found under “Recommendations” on page 25. 




4.0 Executive Summary of Survey Results 

The Executive Summary of Survey Results is categorised into ten sections and is based on the detailed data results found later 

in the report: 

1. National Associations of the Deaf 

2. Population of Deaf People 

3. Legislation and Policies 

4. Access to Government Services 

5. Access to the Media 

6. Status of the Country Sign Language(s) 

7. Access to Education 

8. Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services 

9. Employment 

10. General Comments 

The target members of WFD MCAC who returned completed surveys were: 









And non-members who returned surveys were: 

1. Support Group for Deaf Persons in Guyana 

2. Centre of Assistance for People with Hearing Problems in Haiti 

3. Honduras Deaf Association 

4. Suriname Association Deaf 

Only one Ordinary Member of WFD MCAC (Belize) did not return the survey. The Regional Director stated that this organisation 

may have been temporarily shut down. 

The Deaf Association in Suriname has a partner organisation in Holland, ‘Dovenschap’, who completed the survey on their 

behalf. 

4.1 Background of the Country Respondents 

4.1.1 Classification of Developing Countries/Developed Countries 

Reference: - Reference: - 

(http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/DATASTATISTICS/0,,contentMDK:20420458~menuPK:64133156~pagePK:641331 

50~piPK:64133175~theSitePK:239419,00.html) 

Based on the World Bank’s definition, four classifications were used for this analysis. In the region incorporating Mexico, 

Central America and the Caribbean, one country is classified as Low Income (Haiti); seven are classified as Low Middle Income 

(Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua and Suriname) and four as Upper Middle Income (Costa Rica, 

Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama). 




Country Low Income Low Middle Income Upper Middle Income 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 

Dominican Republic 

El Salvador 

Guatemala 

Guyana 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

Panama 

Suriname 

Total 1 (8%) 7 (59%) 4 (33%) 

4.1.2 Contact Details of Country Respondents 




 

 

Based on 12 respondents 

Twelve country respondents supplied their contact details. It was interesting to note that only two have websites (Costa Rica 

and Haiti). Mexico’s website is under construction. 

4.1.3 Country Respondent Memberships 

Eleven country respondents provided the number of Deaf members; the largest number of Deaf members is from Cuba, with 

9,759 out of a total of 14,910 Deaf members in the entire WFD MCAC region. The lowest number of Deaf members was five in 

Suriname. Mexico did not supply the number of Deaf members. 

It is interesting to note that Honduras’ membership base has more hearing people (68%) than Deaf (32%). 

Country Total Deaf Members 

Total Hard of Hearing 

Members 

Total Hearing Members Total Members 

Costa Rica 498 (99%) 0 2 (0.4%) 500 

Cuba 9,759 (49%) 9,273 (46%) 1,071 (5%) 20,103 

Dominican Republic 55 (100%) 0 0 55 

El Salvador 473 (99%) 3 (1%) 0 476 

Guatemala 37 (76%) 11 (22%) 1 (2%) 49 

Guyana 20 (50%) 0 20 (50%) 40 

Haiti 2,300 (59%) 1,033 (27%) 557 (14%) 3,890 

Honduras 890 (32%) 0 1,900 (68%) 2,790 

Mexico 0 0 0 0 

Nicaragua 793 (99%) 8 (1%) 0 801 

Panama 80 (95%) 4 (5%) 0 84 

Suriname 5 (100%) 0 0 5 

Total 14,910 10,332 3,551 28,793 

4.1.4 Background of the Country Respondents 

Eight out of 12 country respondents (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and 

Panama) are Ordinary Members (OMs) of WFD and were established between 1964 to 1997; the oldest National Association in 

WFD MCAC is that of Mexico, which was established in 1964, with the most recently-established being that in the Dominican 

Republic (2000).

Four country respondents, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras and Suriname, are not Ordinary Members of WFD. Information supplied 

from these countries were from Associations (Honduras and Suriname) and Deaf Groups (Guyana and Haiti). 

Ten out of 12 country respondents (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, 

Nicaragua and Panama) have their own organisational statutes/constitutions and all are recognised by their country’s 

government as the association/group representing Deaf people; governmental recognition is also the case in Guyana. Only one 

country (Suriname) was not certain if the government recognises their Deaf Association. 

A full explanation of the organisational structures is provided on page 41. 

Nine out of 12 country respondents (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and 

Nicaragua) outlined their policy statements in the areas of: 

• Education 

• Human Rights for Deaf People 

• Promotion of Sign Language 

• Integration of Deaf People into the Community 

• Sign Language Interpreters 

• Advocacy 

Eleven out of 12 country respondents outlined the six highest priority issues or actions in their strategic action plans; the most 

common issues being: 

• Deaf Education 

• Sign Language 

• Research into Deaf People’s Standard of Living 

• Leadership Training 

• Promotion of Laws 

• Training for Women 

• Relationship with Public Institutions 

• Health Awareness (STD/HIV) 

• Employment 

The questions then focused on numbers of Regional and Local Deaf Associations in each country; the largest number of 

Regional Deaf Associations is in Mexico (16) and the largest number of Local Deaf Association is in Cuba (169). Four countries 

(Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana and Suriname) do not have either Regional or Local Associations. 

Eleven of 12 country respondents supplied information about the number of board members of their Association. The standard 

number of board members is between six and 22; Cuba has the largest number with 22 members on the board. Panama did not 

supply this information. 

One question specifically asked for the number of Deaf people serving as a member on the national board; seven of 12 country 

respondents (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Suriname) have 100% Deaf people 

on the board. Guyana has the least number of Deaf people on the board, with two out of six members being Deaf; thus 33% of 

Deaf people run their organisation’s affairs. The general average of Deaf people serving as a board member in countries in 

WFD MCAC is 83%. 

Another question queried the number of Deaf women serving on boards. Nicaragua has five Deaf women out of a total of seven 

board members (71%) and Cuba has the smallest female representation with one out of 19 members being a woman (5%). Only 

two countries (Mexico and Nicaragua) have more Deaf female board members than Deaf male members. The approximate 

average of Deaf women serving on Boards in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean is 34%. 

Ten of 12 country respondents have committees for specific areas of interest or affiliation with other relevant independent 

groups as follows: 

• Seven (70%) Countries have a committee on Sign Language Research 

• Six (60%) Countries have committees for Deaf Education, Deafblind, Sign Language Interpreting and Sports Groups 

• Five (50%) Countries have committees for Deaf Youth, and Deaf People with Other Disabilities 

• Four (40%) Countries have committees for Children of Deaf Adults, Cultural Groups for Deaf People, Deaf Women and 

Parents of Deaf Children 

• Three (30%) Countries have a committee for Deaf Seniors and other committees 

• Two (20%) Countries have a committee for Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual 

Guyana and Suriname stated their Deaf Groups do not have any committees. 

In reference to the employment of staff members, only four countries (Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) supplied 

this information; while eight countries (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Panama and 

Suriname) do not have any staff members. Cuba has the largest number of staff members, both Deaf and Hearing, at 39. 

Honduras has 88% Deaf employees within the organisation while Cuba has a small group of Deaf employees (21%). 




The final question in this section queried whether any of the countries had a Deaf Chief Executive, Executive Director or Deaf 

Person-In-Charge of the National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group. The four countries reporting in the affirmative were 

Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. 

4.2 Population of Deaf People 

Six of the 12 country respondents (Costa Rica, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama) stated that their government has 

an official number of Deaf people in their country as shown below: 

Country 

Does your country’s government have any official number of Deaf people in your 

country? 

Total Deaf people 

Costa Rica Yes 26,235 

Cuba Yes 20,918 

Haiti Yes 18,948 

Honduras Yes 34,775 

Mexico Yes 2,000,000 

Panama Yes 9,000 

Total 6 Yes (50%) 2,109,876 


The following shows the number of Deaf people as recorded by seven country respondents themselves (Cuba, Dominican 

Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama): 

Country 

Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate figures of the 

number of Deaf people living in your country? 



Dominican Republic Yes 60,000 * 

El Salvador Yes 7,028 

Haiti Yes approx 120,000 

Honduras Yes 890 

Nicaragua Yes 793 


Total 7 Yes (58%) 221,347 


* Please note: The Director of WFD MCAC obtained the number 60,000 for the Dominican Republic from CONADIS when he 

visited the Dominican Republic after the Regional Working Group Meeting. 

The next question in the survey provides an essential record of Deaf people who use sign language as their primary language. 

Eight out of 12 countries reported their number of Sign Language Users as below: 

Country 

Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate 

numbers of Deaf people who use sign language as their primary 

language? 

Total Number of Sign Language Users 

Costa Rica Yes 498 


Guatemala Yes 207 



Mexico Yes 300,000 



Total 8 Yes (67%) 361,147 

Based on twelve respondents 




Seven country respondents also recorded the number of Deaf female and Deaf male Sign Language Users: 

Country Deaf Women Sign Language Users Deaf Men Sign Language Users 

Costa Rica 199 299 

Cuba 4,542 5,217 

Haiti approx 22,000 approx 18,000 

Honduras 425 465 

Mexico 100,000 200,000 

Nicaragua 379 414 

Panama 5,000 4,000 

Total 132,545 

Based on seven respondents 

228,395 

An analysis of the survey data indicates that the average percentage of Deaf people who use sign language in five countries in 

the region of WFD MCAC is 39%. 

Country Total Deaf people (Associations’ estimates) Total Sign Language Users Average 

Cuba 23,636 9,759 41% 

Haiti approx 120,000 approx 40,000 33% 

Honduras 890 890 100% 

Nicaragua 793 793 100% 

Panama 9,000 9,000 100% 

Total 154,319 60,442 39% 

The survey approached all 12 countries with a clear question as to whether HIV/AIDS affected the Deaf women, men and 

children in their country. Two respondents (Cuba and Haiti) stated “Yes”; further explanation of the situation of HIV/AIDS in 

the Deaf Communities in these countries can be found on page 52. Five countries (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, 

Honduras and Nicaragua) stated they do not have any information about this; and five countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, 

Mexico, Panama and Suriname) answered “No”. Haiti is the only country that provided information on the number of Deaf 

people who are living with HIV/AIDS. 

It is a significant concern that 84% of the respondents have no reliable information about the situation of HIV/AIDS within their 

own Deaf Communities. 

4.3 Legislation and Policies 

On the first day of the Regional Working Group Meeting, the Project Co-ordinator introduced the United Nations Convention on 

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) concentrating on the key articles relating to the Deaf Community as follows: 

Article 2: Definition 

Article 9: Accessibility 

Article 21: Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information 

Article 24: Education 

Article 30: Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport 

At the time of the meeting, 11 out of 12 survey respondents had signed the convention (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, 

El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Suriname); and only seven had signed the 

protocol (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama). 

The total number of countries targeted by the survey was 14, not counting the West Indies; from all of these, 12 countries 

(those on the list above and Trinidad and Tobago) have signed the convention. Only five of the 15 have ratified the 

convention: 

• Cuba 

• El Salvador * 

• Mexico * 

• Nicaragua 

• Panama * 

Those countries with an asterisk have also signed the protocol. 

This section focussed on essential data collection about any legislation or policy relating to Deaf people in each country. The 

first question asked whether each country’s government recognised Deaf people as citizens on an equal basis as other citizens; 




ten of 12 countries (83%) responded ‘Yes’ with a ‘No’ from Haiti and Suriname. The Regional Working Group, however, 

considered the chance that these governments recognise Deaf people as equal as being very small; they expressed doubt at 

the replies from those respondents who stated that their governments did. 

The next question asked whether each country has an office responsible for services for People with Disabilities, to which all 

of the country respondents answered ‘Yes’. Part of this question asked each country to provide contact details of this 

government office, and only Suriname did not; this information can be found on page 51. 

Nine of 12 countries confirmed their government has legislation or policy for Deaf People or People with Disabilities in 

general, and supplied a list of the laws or policies (see page 51). All of these laws and policies classified Deaf people under 

the larger group of People with Disabilities, and none of them addressed the needs of Deaf people as a group in itself. 

Guyana, Haiti and Suriname stated their current government does not have legislation covering Deaf people or People with 

Disabilities. 

Only seven of 12 countries (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Suriname) have antidiscrimination 

legislation for People with Disabilities (including Deaf people, as stated above.) 

Eight of 12 countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Suriname) stated their 

national governments provide services specifically for the Deaf Community through government departments; four countries 

(Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana and Haiti) said their government does not provide any services for the Deaf 

community. For those countries where the government does provide services, the types of services are: 

• Deaf Education 

• Hearing Aid Service 

• Sign Language Interpreting Services 

• Social Welfare (Financial Assistance) 

The opinion of current services offered by governments is generally that they are average but need to increase their 

sensitivity to the Deaf community’s needs as regards, for example, sign language interpreting services or better quality of 

education for Deaf children. 

Those countries who stated that their government did not provide any service were requested to explain the reason for this; 

responses were along the lines of the government not having expertise in the provision of community services for the Deaf 

community. 

Ten of 12 country respondents have contact with their country’s current government. The type of contact is linked to the 

Ministries and/or Government Agencies dealing with Deaf people’s welfare needs. Three countries (Costa Rica, Cuba and El 

Salvador) have membership status within the governmental committee on issues for People with Disabilities. 

Four of 12 country respondents (Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala and Honduras) receive funding from their national government 

with eight (Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Suriname) not receiving any 

government financial support at all. Those countries receiving government funding provided the annual amount they received 

(see page 54) and explained the purpose of the financial support. 

The last five questions of this section were to ascertain whether Deaf people have a right to vote in national, regional and 

local elections; are permitted to obtain a driver’s licence; can marry Deaf or other partners; are allowed to have children; 

and can adopt children. The results are as follows: 

Yes 

Right to vote in 

national, 

regional and 

local elections? 

12 Countries 

(100%) 

No 0 

Allowed to obtain 

a driver’s licence? 

10 Countries 

(83%) 

2 Countries 

(17%) 

Allowed to marry 

Deaf or other 

partners? 

Allowed to have 

children? 

12 Countries 

(100%) 12 Countries (100%) 

0 0 

Unknown 0 0 0 0 



Allowed to adopt 

children? 

10 Countries 

(83%) 

1 Country 

(8%) 

1 Country 

(8%) 

When asked whether Deaf people have access to government services such as education, health care, employment, social 

welfare and other general government services, nine of 12 country respondents ticked ‘Yes’. The question asking how Deaf 

people access these government services was generally not answered correctly; only a couple countries stated that they have 

laws guaranteeing these services to Deaf people and that part of equal citizenship is that Deaf people are eligible to access 

government services. 

Another aspect of access to government services was whether Deaf people were entitled to any financial assistance from the 

government, to which nine of 12 respondents (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, 




Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua) answered ‘Yes’. The national government does not offer any financial assistance to Deaf 

people in Haiti, Panama and Suriname. The types of financial assistance offered to Deaf people are shown in the table below: 


Disability Allowance General Pension Disability-Specific Pension Other 

2 Countries 

5 Countries 

5 Countries 

4 Countries 

(17%) 

(42%) 

(42%) 

(33%) 


Following are the results of access to the Media for Deaf people in these 12 countries, based on three main questions: 

1) Does the government provide sign language services for news and/or current affairs programmes on public television? 

Seven countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Panama) stated their government 

provides sign language services for News Programmes on television. The length of time for sign language programmes 

on television ranged from once every week to a two-minute news broadcast during weekdays through to a one-hour 

news programme every morning. 

2) Does the government provide subtitles/captions for news and/or current affairs programme? 

Only three countries (Costa Rica, Cuba and Nicaragua) have access to subtitles/captions for news bulletins and 

movies, with the hours of captioning access ranging from one hour every month to only fifteen minutes between 

Monday and Friday. 

3) Does the government offer any governmental documents in sign language? 

None of the governments provides access for Deaf people to receive governmental documents in their sign language. 

4.6 Status of the National Sign Language(s) 

These questions aimed to gather vital data on the status of national sign language(s) with findings as follows: 

• Six of 12 countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Panama) stated their national sign 

language is formally recognised by their government 

• Six of 12 countries (Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Suriname) stated their sign language is not 

recognised by their government 

• For the six countries whose sign languages are recognised, recognition falls under the following categories: 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 

Country Legislation Policy 

Dominican Republic 

El Salvador 

Mexico 

Panama 

• Seven countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua), continue to actively lobby their 

national government to recognise their sign languages 

• Five countries (Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, Panama and Suriname), do not lobby for recognition of their sign 

language with reasons given being that it not a priority issue; there is a need for leaders to do this; the government does 

not recognise sign language as a language but only as a communication tool; and there is no national sign language 

Eight of 12 countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) have a dictionary 

of their national sign language. 


The most important part of this survey was to ascertain whether every Deaf person was entitled to and had access to good 

quality education. There were eight questions, the first of which asked whether governments recognised that Deaf children 

and Deaf students have the right to receive an education. All 12 countries stated ‘Yes’ but only six (Costa Rica, Cuba, 

Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama) responded ‘Yes’ to the question asking if the government has legislation or a 




policy on Deaf Education. All six countries were able to provide the specific name of the legislation or policy relating to Deaf 

Education, the list of which is available on page 63. 

The Regional Working Group queried those six countries who replied that there was no legislation or policy on Deaf Education; 

the Regional Co-ordinator has extensive experience in the field of Deaf Education in the region, and he stated that in 1996 

every country’s government signed the “Law for Equal Opportunities for People with Disabilities” (Ley de Equiparación de 

Oportunidades para las personas con Discapacidad). 

The next aim was to collect information on educational settings for Deaf children and Deaf students in each country (11 

countries) as shown below: 

Early Intervention Kindergarten Primary Education 

Secondary 

Education 

7 Countries 8 Countries 9 Countries 

9 Countries 

(64%) 

(73%) 

(82%) 

(82%) 


University 

Education 

5 Countries 

(45%) 

Vocational 

Education/Training 

6 Countries 

(55%) 

Four countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras and Panama) have educational settings from Early Intervention right up to 

University Education, as well as Vocational Education and Training. In Guatemala, the government is not responsible to 

manage schools for the Deaf but there are schools for Deaf children managed by private institutions. 

It was interesting to note that Haiti ticked ‘No’ for all education levels; this could be in error because to the question ‘Does 

your country have any schools specifically for Deaf children and Deaf students?’ they responded ‘Yes’. It may be that they 

thought the above question referred to the governmental school system while in their country the schools are run by private 

non-governmental organisations only. 

The WFD MCAC Regional Director visited the Dominican Republic where he was hoping to obtain information on educational 

settings; unfortunately he was unable to do so, therefore all information for the Dominican Republic is recorded as Unknown. 

Another question addressed Bilingual Education offered by the government, and use of the national sign language(s) for Deaf 

children and Deaf students. Seven out of 12 countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and 

Suriname) provided information about which levels of education are provided bilingually: 

Early Intervention Kindergarten 

6 Countries 

(86%) 

5 Countries 

(71%) 

Primary 

Secondary 

Education 

Education 

7 Countries 7 Countries 

(100%) 

(100%) 


University 

Education 

4 Countries 

(57%) 

Vocational 


5 Countries 

(71%) 

The next question had the aim of recording the number of schools specifically for Deaf children and Deaf students; all 12 

countries provided replies. The largest number of Deaf schools is in Cuba, which has 16; and the smallest number is in Guyana 

and Suriname, which each have only one. The total number of Deaf schools, hearing schools with Deaf classrooms, Deaf units 

and others, in all 12 countries is 96. 

Another question approached the type of educational communication methods for Deaf children and Deaf students at the Deaf 

schools. All 12 countries provided this information; the summarised results are: 

Bilingual Education 1 Oral Method 2 Cued Speech 3 Oral and Sign Language 

(Total Communication) 4 

6 Countries 8 Countries 1 Country 

9 Countries 

(50%) 

(67%) 

(8%) 

(75%) 


Auditory Verbal 5 Other 

2 Countries 

(17%) 

1 Country 

(8%) 

1 Bilingual Education: Sign language is considered to be the natural language (‘mother tongue’) that will be acquired as a first 

language. Spoken language, which is not acquired naturally by Deaf children, will be learned as a second language as the child 

becomes cognitively/developmentally ready. Both languages are used throughout the child’s entire education. 

2 Oral Education: Spoken language is assumed to be the basis for standard social and academic communication, and the human 

system is assumed to be designed (pre-wired) to learn language expressed in speech. Children learn about and from spoken 

language. Also known as auditory-oral, aural/oral education. Emphasis on speech. 

3 Cued Speech: A visual mode of communication that uses hand shapes and placements in combination with the mouth 

movements of speech to make the phonemes of a spoken language look different from each other, resulting in a visual 

counterpart of a spoken language. 

4 Total Communication: All forms and modes of communications are used. This includes natural gestures, sign language, 

manually-coded spoken languages, sign systems, mime, audition and speech. 

5 Auditory Verbal Education: Supposes that even minimal amounts of residual hearing can lead to the development of 

spontaneous speech and language, if that residual hearing is stimulated. Children learn to process language through amplified 

hearing. A method of oral education with an emphasis on listening. 




Overall, the dominant educational communication method in the WFD MCAC region is Oral, indicated by the averages between 

67% and 75% for the Oral Method and Oral and Sign Language. 50% of the region’s countries have bilingual education for Deaf 

children. 

The following questions were asked: ‘What is the general opinion of the level of education received by Deaf children and Deaf 

students?’ and ‘What is the general opinion of the current literacy level of Deaf children and Deaf students?’ Full details as 

provided by all 12 respondents can be found on page 67. 

Most notably, there are several comments stating that the current educational level is of a very low standard and that Deaf 

people are not satisfied with the education system for Deaf children and students; one country stated that it is necessary to 

establish Bilingual Education because that will improve the quality of education for Deaf children. 

The 12 countries provided various opinions on the current level of literacy; however the common opinion is that it is poor or of 

a low level. A strong statement came from Haiti - “Deaf people should not be taught reading and writing by the general 

community.” Only one country (Nicaragua) stated that the literacy levels are gradually improving especially for those children 

who use sign language. 

At the higher level of education, the survey questions sought information as to whether Deaf people have access to University 

education and also asked each country to supply information about the number of Universities which offer study placements 

for Deaf people. Only nine of 12 country respondents (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, 

Nicaragua, Panama and Suriname) have places for Deaf people to access University education. The number of Universities that 

are accessible for Deaf people in the WFD MCAC Region range widely from one State University in El Salvador and Honduras to 

all Universities in Cuba, Guatemala and Nicaragua; full details can be found on page 68. 

In those countries (Dominican Republic, Guyana and Haiti) where Deaf people do not have access to University education, the 

reasons were that no Deaf students have received a secondary education and that there is an unavailability of sign language 

interpreting services for Deaf students. 

The last question of the Education part of the survey asked about Sign Language Interpreting Services offered for Deaf 

students in University. Only five countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) stated that Deaf people 

have full access to sign language interpreting services for University. 

4.8 Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services 

To questions focusing on the status of sign language interpreting services, all 12 countries reported that they have sign 

language interpreters. The next question asked them to provide the number of sign language interpreters, to which the 

response ranged from two in Suriname to 434 in Cuba. 

The survey next aimed to gain specific information as to whether any of these sign language interpreters are appropriately 

qualified, to which seven out of 12 countries responded (Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and 

Suriname). When asked where people go to obtain training to become a qualified sign language interpreter the answers were: 

University Community College National Association of the Deaf Others 

6 Countries (86%) 1 Country (14%) 2 Countries (29%) 2 Countries (29%) 


Three of those respondents (Costa Rica, Mexico and Nicaragua) stated the National Association of the Deaf co-operates with 

the University for Sign Language Interpreter Training. 

The length of training ranged from less than one year up to five years (further details on page 70). 

The current number of sign language interpreters with formal interpreting qualifications starts with only two qualified 

interpreters in Suriname up to 434 interpreters in Cuba. Haiti reported that they have no qualified sign language interpreters 

in their country because sign language is not recognised by their government. 

When queried about how Deaf people access sign language interpreting, nine out of 12 countries stated such services are 

accessed through a Sign Language Interpreter Association, Deaf Association, Religious Groups, Deaf School and the 

telecommunication system (text, fax or email). Another question designed to collect information about who is responsible for 

providing sign language interpreting services for the Deaf Community and answered by nine countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El 

Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) resulted in the following findings: 

Government National Association of the Deaf Private Sector Other 

0 Countries 

(0%) 

9 Countries 

2 Countries 

(100%) 

(22%) 

Based on nine respondents 

5 Countries 

(56%) 




The types of sign language interpreting services offered to the Deaf community in nine countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El 

Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) are: 

Sign Language Interpreting Services Country/Average Percentage 

Social Services 9 (100%) 

Court Services 8 (89%) 

Health/Medical Services 8 (89%) 

Educational Services 8 (89%) 

Employment Services 8 (89%) 

Funerals/Weddings 8 (89%) 

Counselling Services 7 (78%) 

Entertainment 7 (78%) 

Financial Institutions 5 (56%) 

Based on nine respondents 

The Regional Working Group stressed that not all interpreting services are available in rural cities in each country in the WFD 

MCAC Region. These interpreting services are available mainly in the capital cities. 

Ten respondents provided their general opinion of these sign language interpreting services. The broad opinion is that the 

services are satisfactory. However some comments were made that there is a need to develop sign language materials to 

support the interpreters; a need to expand the number of interpreters; a need to have a solid training programme available 

for sign language interpreters; and one country expressed dissatisfaction with the interpreting training programme provided 

by the University. 

Ten of 12 respondents stated that sign language interpreters receive payment for their interpreting assignments, with the 

responsibility for remitting payment as follows: 

Government National Association of the Deaf Deaf People Others 

4 Countries (40%) 7 Countries (70%) 6 Countries (60%) 7 Countries (70%) 


• Four country’s governments, in Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and Panama, are responsible for payment of 

interpreting services 

• In seven countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Panama) the National Association 

of the Deaf provides funding for the service 

• Six countries (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama) stated that Deaf people themselves pay 

for the service 

• Seven countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras and Nicaragua) stated that “Others” 

responsible to pay for the service include Universities, a Television Station, Event Organisers and the Association of 

Sign Language Interpreters 

The National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group in the Dominican Republic and in Suriname stated that sign language 

interpreters do not receive any payment for their interpreting services. 

One country (El Salvador) provides a translation service for Deaf people’s business correspondence; for the fee of 0.66 Euro 

cents per page, the Deaf person signs a message and the translator writes it down. 

Ten from 12 countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) 

responded to the question asking what the average rate per hour for sign language interpreters is. The lowest payment is 

1.32€ per hour in El Salvador; and the highest hourly payments are 21.64€ per hour in Mexico and 45.17€ per hour as reported 

by Haiti (which amount may be incorrect). Payment scales can be found on page 72. 

Four countries (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Suriname) stated their sign language interpreters provide 

voluntary services for all assignments and seven other countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua 

and Panama) stated that their interpreters do voluntary services sometimes; only one country (Cuba) stated that their sign 

language interpreters do not provide voluntary services for interpreting assignments. 

The question seeking whether each country has a National Association of Sign Language Interpreters brought to light that only 

five countries (Costa Rica, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) have a national organisation for Sign Language Interpreters. 

However, seven of the 12 countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Suriname) have their own 

national Code of Ethics for Sign Language Interpreters. 

The last question for this section sought information about legislation or policies which state the government has a 

responsibility for the provision of sign language interpreting services. Five out of 12 countries (Costa Rica, Guatemala, 




Honduras, Mexico and Panama) reported in the affirmative and provided the title of their legislation, which can be found on 

page 75. 


This survey sought to gather information on employment settings for Deaf people in the WFD MCAC region. The first question 

was to confirm whether the government considers that Deaf people have a right to be employed and earn a standard salary. 

All of the 12 country respondents except one (Suriname) stated ‘No’. The next question was whether any of the national 

governments have any anti-discrimination laws in the area of employment, especially for Deaf people or People with 

Disabilities. Only five countries (El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Nicaragua and Suriname) do not have laws against discrimination 

of Deaf people or People with Disabilities. Seven countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, 

Mexico and Panama) provided a list of the legislation or policies relating to anti-discrimination in employment (found on page 

76). It is interesting to note that there may be a conflict with El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti and Nicaragua, who stated their 

governments do not consider that Deaf people have a right to be employed and earn a standard salary when these countries 

have anti-discrimination legislation for People with Disabilities. 

To the question about official figures about the number of Deaf people who are in paid employment, only two countries (Cuba 

and Panama) provided this information. 

Country Total Number of Deaf people employed 

Cuba 7,528 

Panama 5,000 

Ten countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama) ticked the 

most common areas of work for Deaf people in their country with the results being: 

Most Common areas of work for Deaf people in WFD MCAC 

Country/Average Percentage 


Cleaning 10 Countries (100%) 

Carpentry 9 Countries (90%) 

Education 9 Countries (90%) 

Hairdresser 9 Countries (90%) 

Building 8 Countries (80%) 

Tailoring 8 Countries (80%) 

Other 8 Countries (80%) 

Car Mechanic 7 Countries (70%) 

Farm Work 7 Countries (70%) 

Painter 7 Countries (70%) 

Printer 7 Countries (70%) 

Sign Language Work 7 Countries (70%) 

Welding 7 Countries (70%) 

Bakery 6 Countries (60%) 

Office Administration 5 Countries (50%) 

Panel Beating 5 Countries (50%) 

Theatre/Arts 4 Countries (40%) 

Shoe Repairing 4 Countries (40%) 

Financial Industry 3 Countries (30%) 

Jeweller 3 Countries (30%) 

Catering 2 Countries (20%) 

Engineering 2 Countries (20%) 

Management 2 Countries (20%) 

Research Projects 2 Countries (20%) 

Social Services 1 Country (10%) 




Another question sought information on the number of Deaf people who are unemployed, and none of the 12 respondents had 

this information. However, they did state that the reasons for unemployment were the lack of an equal employment 

opportunity law; the low level of education; and communication difficulties. 

The final question asked if there were any employment services to assist unemployed Deaf people to find positions and also 

asked who is responsible for this service. Seven out of 12 countries (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, 

Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua) have specialised services offered by both the Government Employment Service and the 

National Association of the Deaf to assist Deaf people to gain employment. 

4.10 General Comments 

Five issues of common concern faced by every National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group globally were listed, and all 12 

countries prioritised these issues for the Deaf community in their country. Please note: the majority of the countries ticked 

more than one ‘highest priority’. The results are: 

Highest Priority Issues Country/Average Percentage 

Better quality of Deaf Education 11 Countries (92%) 

Recognition of your country’s Sign Language(s) by your country’s Government 8 Countries (67%) 

Equal Opportunity in Employment 8 Countries (67%) 

Improved quality and access to Government and Community Services 7 Countries (58%) 

Better Sign Language Interpreting quality and services 6 Countries (50%) 

Others 3 Countries (25%) 

Others 

• Consideration must be given to Human Rights Issues for the Deaf Community 

• Provision of information to the Deaf Community is necessary 

• Increased knowledge about Deaf Awareness is necessary 

Leadership Training Programme 

Counselling Service for parents and families of Deaf people 

The final part of the survey provided the opportunity for each country to list any other concerns about the standard of living 

of Deaf people. Eight countries (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and 

Panama) took the opportunity and expressed the following common areas of concern: 

Government 

• Provision of financial support for project work 

• Attention to vital issues for the Deaf community (e.g. Education, Employment, Health and Security and Social 

Welfare) 

• Access to government services needs to be improved 

• Government must take responsibility to achieve a better quality of life for Deaf people 

Education 

• The quality of Deaf Education must be improved 

• Legislation must be created to enable access to Higher Education for Deaf people 

• Government should take responsibility to manage the Deaf Schools (including provision of financial support) 

• Teachers should be fluent in sign language 

Sign Language 

• Sign Language teachers should be Deaf people only 

• Recognition of sign language should become a priority issue 

• Partnerships with international organisations should be established in order to research sign language 


• Quality of sign language interpreting services must be improved 

• Partnerships with international organisations should be established to provide training for Sign Language Interpreters 

Employment 

• Equal Employment Opportunities for Deaf people should be promoted 

• Vocational Training for Deaf people is necessary 




Other 

• Human Rights for Deaf people 

• Deaf Leadership Training 

• Deaf Association to be accepted as a legitimate organisation by Government and other non-governmental 

organisations 

• Affiliation with international organisations must be established 

• Telecommunications Access should be available for Deaf people (e.g. TTY) 




5.0 Recommendations 

This section is based on the recommendations prepared by the members of the Regional Working Group that met in San Jose, 

Costa Rica, on 25 th – 27th March, 2008 to pursue the issues highlighted in the report. The current economic situation in the 

WFD MCAC region, especially for the countries categorised under the World Bank Classification as Low Income or Low Middle 

Income (Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Suriname), has an impact on any of their 

governments’ abilities to fund programmes to support these initiatives. 

It may be necessary for the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR) to seek 

external support for the region, i.e. to seek project support and funding via partnerships with Shia and other relevant 

organisations. 

The Regional Working Group brainstormed about issues brought to light by the survey as urgent needs for the members in 

Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. From this they identified training needs for the region. 

The Regional Working Group recommended that any and all training should be available in sign language and conducted by 

Deaf Trainers and Experts. The Regional Working Group has identified the major needs as being: 

5.1 Increase Knowledge of the United Nations Conventions 

After receiving training on the various conventions of the United Nations, the Regional Working Group considered knowledge 

of current conventions a powerful tool for each country’s Deaf Community. Training should be provided about the: 

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights 

• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 

• Convention on the Rights of the Child 

• Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women 

• Periodic reporting, the new system of Universal Periodic Reviews and also shadow/alternative reports from NGOs 

5.2 Training on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 

In the region, five out of 12 governments have ratified the Convention. Ideally each member of WFD MCAC should receive full 

training in understanding the CRPD in its entirety, to enable them to prepare for their advocacy role within areas such as: 

1. How to lobby Government to sign and ratify CRPD (who, how, what) 

2. How the National Association of the Deaf can become an expert with their national government for the five articles 

of the CRPD specifically related to the Deaf Community 

3. How to prepare and advise the national government about the five articles of the CRPD relating to the Deaf 

Community including budget preparation, advisory roles, and appropriate systems/appointments/procedures 

5.3 Training for the National Association of the Deaf and Deaf Groups/Organisations 

The process would ideally also include training of individual members and board members of every National Association of the 

Deaf and Deaf Group/Organisation in the region of WFD MCAC, and include subjects such as: 

• WFD Policies 

• International Network and Roles of the United Nations, WFD, WFD Regional Secretariats 

• Global Models of Deaf Communities and Organisations, e.g. WFD, and their work 

• Human Rights 

• Gender Issues 

• Deaf Education/Bilingualism for Deaf Students 

• Review of Deaf Education 

• Sign Language Work 

• Sign Language Interpreting 

• Media for Deaf People 

• Deaf Employment/Vocational Training 

• National Legislation/Local Government Systems 

• Leadership 

• Empowerment and Democracy 

• Advocacy by the National Association of the Deaf 

• Deafhood (the Deaf collective existence; a process by which Deaf individuals come to actualise their Deaf identity) 

• Mental Health 

• HIV and AIDS Awareness 

• Deaf Employment 

• Self Esteem/Self Confidence 

This training will endeavour to provide empowerment and self-reliance to the National Association of the Deaf and Deaf 

Groups/Organisations as they act in accordance with their obligations to advocate and improve the status of the Deaf 

community in their country. 




5.4 Organisational Development Training for Board and Senior Management 

The members of the Regional Working Group raised the strong need to provide organisational management training for all WFD 

MCAC Board Members and Senior Management Staff as follows: 

1. How to prepare Policy Statements 

2. Understanding current legislation available in the region 

3. Advocacy to and lobbying of the government for services, legislation and policy for the Deaf Community 

4. Financial Management/Fundraising/Grants and Project funding from or by the governments 

5. Strategy Development to lobby governments to recognise national sign language(s) 

6. General Information about Sign Language Interpreters Training Programmes:- 

• Appointment of appropriate Interpreter Trainers for the training 

• How to prepare interpreter training programmes 

• How to provide interpreting services 

• How to accredit interpreters 

• General policies on Sign Language Interpreters Services 

• Code of Ethics 

7. Membership Issues regarding hearing people’s involvement with an Association of the Deaf run by Deaf people 

8. Understanding the different definitions of Deaf and Hearing Impaired 

9. Information about HIV/AIDS for the Deaf Community, including the urgent need for an HIV/AIDS Education Training 

Programme for the Deaf Community and an appropriate training kit 

10. Training for the Deaf Youth Community and Leadership Training for Deaf Youth 

11. Training for Deaf Women 

The Project Co-ordinator proposes that the training outlined below is necessary to supplement the above recommendations 

from the Regional Working Group: 

5.5 Organisational Review and Training for the Deaf Community 

Essentially, a re-evaluation of the overall vision to provide clear direction for the organisation as a whole, in accordance with 

the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) aims. The process should focus on the following areas: 

• Political strength 

• Vision, Mission and Aims of an organisation of Deaf people 

• Clear definitions of roles and responsibilities in a structure with National, Regional and Local Deaf Associations 

• Community relationship and communication structure to be developed and put into place (including the importance 

of transparency) 

• Representation and the role of Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people within the organisation 

The Project Co-ordinator believes it is necessary to develop a blueprint of a national strategy for the Deaf community for each 

National Association of the Deaf in the region of WFD MCAC. 

5.6 Advocacy for the Improvement of the Standard of Living for Deaf People 

It can be seen that sports and cultural activities are prominent in National Association of the Deaf work, and that essential 

lobbying for the improvement of the standard of living for Deaf people is sometimes lacking or difficult to achieve. 

A recommendation on how to address this issue is to seek partnership to conduct comprehensive data collection on the living 

standards of a representative sample of individual Deaf people, including vital aspects such as: 

• Socio-economic status 

• Education 

• Literacy skills 

• Employment 

• Access to sign language interpreting services 

• Access to health services 

• Access to government services 

• Access to the media 

An essential part of this advocacy process is to utilise existing tools such as legal documents, reports and international human 

rights documents relevant to Deaf people, in order to make valid proposals and arguments to better equality and living 

conditions. (The WFD Fact Sheet on Human Rights can be found on http://www.wfdeaf.org/pdf/fact_humanrights.pdf) 




5.7 Further Situation Analysis Research in the Mexico, Central America and Caribbean Region 

At present, there are nine countries in the region comprising Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean that may not have a 

national body representing Deaf people who use sign language. It is necessary to consider seeking funding to carry out 

situation analysis research in the following countries: 

1. Antigua - Barbuda 

2. Bahamas 

3. Dominica 

4. Jamaica 

5. Puerto Rico 

6. Saint Kitts and Nevis 

7. Saint Lucia 

8. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 

9. Sao Tome and Prince 




6.0 Geography and Population 

All of the following information was obtained from the Central Intelligence Agency – World Factbook 

(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html) 

6.1 Costa Rica 

6.2 Cuba 

Population: 11,423,952 (July 2008 est.) 


Ethnic 

groups: 

White (including Mestizo) 94%, black 3%, Amerindian 1%, Chinese 

1%, other 1% 

Religions: Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 

1.3%, other Protestant 0.7%, other 4.8%, none 3.2% 

Languages: Spanish (official), English 

Ethnic groups: Mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% 

Religions: Nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to CASTRO assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, 

and Sanitaria are also represented 

Language: Spanish 




6.3 Dominican Republic 

6.4 El Salvador 

6.5 Guatemala 


Ethnic 

groups: 

mixed 73%, white 16%, black 11% 

Religions: Roman Catholic 95%, other 5% 

Language: Spanish 


Ethnic 

groups: 

Mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1% 

Religions: Roman Catholic 83%, other 17% 

note: there is extensive activity by Protestant groups throughout 

the country; by the end of 1992, there were an estimated 1 

million Protestant evangelicals in El Salvador 

Languages: Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians) 


Ethnic 

groups: 

Mestizo (mixed Amerindian-Spanish - in local Spanish called 

Ladino) and European 59.4%, K'iche 9.1%, Kaqchikel 8.4%, Mam 

7.9%, Q'eqchi 6.3%, other Mayan 8.6%, indigenous non-Mayan 

0.2%, other 0.1% (2001 census) 

Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, indigenous Mayan beliefs 

Languages: Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized 

Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, 

Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca) 




6.6 Guyana 

6.7 Haiti 

6.8 Honduras 

Population: 770,794 

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the 

effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower 

life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, 

lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of 

population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected 

(July 2008 est.) 

Ethnic 

groups: 

East Indian 50%, black 36%, Amerindian 7%, white, Chinese, and 

mixed 7% 

Religions: Christian 50%, Hindu 35%, Muslim 10%, other 5% 

Languages: English, Amerindian dialects, Creole, Caribbean Hindustani (a 

dialect of Hindi), Urdu 

Population: 8,924,553 



life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, 

lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of 



Ethnic 

groups: 

Population: 7,483,763 



life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower 

population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of 



Ethnic 

groups: 

black 95%, mulatto and white 5% 

Religions: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 

4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% 

note: roughly half of the population practices voodoo 

Languages: French (official), Creole (official) 

Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, 

black 2%, white 1% 

Religions: Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3% 

Languages: Spanish, Amerindian dialects 




6.9 Mexico 


Ethnic groups: Mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% 

Religions: Roman Catholic 76.5%, Protestant 6.3% (Pentecostal 1.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other 3.8%), other 

0.3%, unspecified 13.8%, none 3.1% (2000 census) 

Languages: Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages 

6.10 Nicaragua 


Ethnic groups: Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 

9%, Amerindian 5% 

Religions: Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, 

Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census) 

Languages: Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census) 

note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast 




6.11 Panama 


Ethnic groups: Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 70%, Amerindian and mixed (West Indian) 14%, white 10%, 

Amerindian 6% 

Religions: Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 15% 

Languages: Spanish (official), English 14%; note - many Panamanians bilingual 

6.12 Suriname 

Population: 475,996 (July 2008 est.) 

Ethnic groups: Hindustani (also known locally as "East Indians"; their ancestors 

emigrated from northern India in the latter part of the 19th 

century) 37%, Creole (mixed white and black) 31%, Javanese 

15%, "Maroons" (their African ancestors were brought to the 

country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to 

the interior) 10%, Amerindian 2%, Chinese 2%, white 1%, other 2% 

Religions: Hindu 27.4%, Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), Roman 

Catholic 22.8%, Muslim 19.6%, indigenous beliefs 5% 

Languages: Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo 

(Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of 

Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca 

among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), 

Javanese 




7.0 Survey Results 

7.1.0 Contact Details 

Country Costa Rica (WFD Ordinary Member) 

Country Classification Upper Middle Income 

Name of Association Costa Rican National Association of Deaf 

Name of Association in National Language Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Costa Rica - ANASCOR 

Address De la Iglesia Santa Teresita Casa No 300 

City, Post Code Barrio Escalante, San Jose, 6552-1000 

Country Costa Rica 

Website http://www.anascor.org/index.asp 

anascor74@gmail.com 

Email 

anascor74@hotmail.com 

Telephone Landline Number N/A 

Telephone Mobile Number N/A 

Fax Number +506 2257 8074 

Country Cuba (WFD Ordinary Member) 

Country Classification Lower Middle Income 

Name of Association Cuban National Association of the Deaf 

Name of Association in National Language Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Cuba 

Address 26 # 4305 3/ 24 y 26, Municipo Playa 

City, Post Code La Habana 

Country Cuba 

Website N/A 

snansoc@enet.cu 

Email 

ansoc@informed.sld.cu 

+537 202 6575 

Telephone Landline Numbers 

+537 202 7076 


Fax Number N/A 

Country Dominican Republic (WFD Ordinary Member) 


Name of Association National Association of the Deaf of the Dominican Republic 

Name of Association in National Language Asociación Nacional de Sordos de la República Dominicana 

Address Arz. Meriño #401, Zona Colonial 

City, Post Code Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional 

Country Dominican Republic 

Website N/A 

Email ansordo@hotmail.com 

Telephone Landline Number +809 687 5208 

Telephone Mobile Number +829 977 3087 

Fax Number +809 687 1375 




Country El Salvador (WFD Ordinary Member) 


Name of Association Salvadorian Association of the Deaf 

Name of Association in National Language Asociación Salvadorena de Sordos 

Address Universidad Luterana Salvadorena Interseccion autopista a Comalapa 

City, Post Code San Salvador 

Country El Salvador 

Website N/A 

Email emmalker2001@hotmail.com 



Fax Number +503 2294 7106 

Country Guatemala (WFD Ordinary Member) 


Name of Association Guatemala Deaf Association 

Name of Association in National Language Asociación de Sordos de Guatemala - ASORGUA 

Address 2A Calle A 10-44 Zona 10 Cudad Vieja 

Postal Address Apartado Postal 783 

City, Post Code Ciudad de Guatemala 

Country Guatemala 

Website N/A 

Email asorgua@hotmail.com 

Telephone Landline Number +502-2362 4745 


Fax Number +502 2362 4745 

Country Guyana (Not a WFD Ordinary Member) 


Name of Group Support Group for Deaf Persons 

Name of Group in National Language N/A 

Address 51 Norton Street 

City, Post Code Georgetown 

Country Guyana 

Website N/A 

Email dangorgan2005@yahoo.com 







Country Haiti (Not a WFD Ordinary Member) 

Country Classification Low Income 

Name of Group Centre of Assistance for People with Hearing Problems 

Name of Group in National Language (French) Centre d’Aide aux Personnes à Problèmes Auditifs (CAPPA – SOURDS – HAÏTI) 

Address 05, 2ème Ruelle Jérémie Lalue 

Postal Address HT6111 

City, Post Code C/O 6, Ruelle Carlstroëm Bois-Verna, B.O. Box 1204 Port-au-Prince 

Country Haiti 

Website http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/cappa_haiti 

cappa_sourd@yahoo.fr 

Email 

cap_pa@hotmail.com 

+509 2245 5462 

Telephone Landline Numbers 

+509 2210 1700 

+509 3793 4873 

+509 3710 4711 

Telephone Mobile Numbers 

+509 3446 6646 


Country Honduras (Not a WFD Ordinary Member) 


Name of Association Honduras Deaf Association 

Name of Association in National Language Asociación de Sordos de Honduras 

Address Colonia Hato de En medio Sector 2 Bloque 24 Casa 3821 

City, Post Code Tegucigalpa D.C. 

Country Honduras 

Website N/A 

Email anshhnd@yahoo.com 



Fax Number +504 255 2533 

Country Mexico (WFD Ordinary Member) 


Name of Association Mexican Deaf Federation 

Name of Association in National Language Federacion Mexicana De Sordos AC - FEMESOR 

Address Presa Azucar #95-402 

City, Post Code Col. Irrigacion Mexico DF, 11500 

Country Mexico 

Website Under construction 

Email femesor.mex@gmail.com 







Country Nicaragua (WFD Ordinary Member) 


Name of Association Nicaraguan National Association of the Deaf 

Name of Association in National Language Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Nicaragua 

Address Del Charma 1 cuadra arriba, 1 1/2 cuadra al lago - Colonial Los Robles B-126 

City, Post Code Managua 

Country Nicaragua 

Website N/A 

Email ansnic@ibw.com.ni 



Fax Number +505 277 0666 

Country Panama (WFD Ordinary Member) 


Name of Association National Deaf Association of Panama 

Name of Association in National Language Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Panama 

Address Clayton 

City, Post Code Panama 

Country Panama 

Website N/A 

Email anspa79@hotmail.com 



Fax Number +507 233 0709 

Country Suriname (Not a WFD Ordinary Member) 

Country Classification Low Middle Income 

Name of Group Foundation for the Surinam Deaf Interests 

Name of Group in National Language (Dutch) Stichting Surinaamse Doven Belangen. 

Address JBS Rebostraat, Blauwgrond 

City, Post Code Paramaribo Asso 

Country Suriname 

Website N/A 

Email N/A 

Telephone Landline Number N/A 






7.2.0 National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group 

7.2.1 Please provide the number of members your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group has in your country. 

7.2.1.1 Deaf Members: - 

Country Total Deaf Members Total Deaf Women Total Deaf Men 

Costa Rica 498 199 299 

Cuba 9,759 4,542 5,217 

Dominican Republic 55 24 31 

El Salvador 473 227 246 

Guatemala 37 20 17 

Guyana 20 14 6 

Haiti 2,300 1,093 1,207 

Honduras 890 425 465 

Mexico N/A N/A N/A 

Nicaragua 793 379 414 

Panama 80 50 30 

Suriname 5 3 2 

Total 14,910 6,976 7,934 

Additional Notes: 

Guatemala: 48 Active Members (all categories); an additional 158 Inactive Members (all categories) have not paid their 

membership fees. 

Mexico: FEMESOR currently has no statistics about the numbers of Deaf people in each state or about Deaf members. 

FEMESOR has 16 Association members. In future, FEMESOR will investigate the population of Deaf people. 

7.4.2.1 Hard of Hearing Members: - 

Country Total Hard of Hearing Members Total Hard of Hearing Women Total Hard of Hearing Men 

Costa Rica 0 N/A N/A 

Cuba 9,273 4,216 5,057 

Dominican Republic 0 N/A N/A 

El Salvador 3 2 1 

Guatemala 11 5 6 

Guyana 0 N/A N/A 

Haiti 1,033 619 414 

Honduras 0 N/A N/A 

Mexico 0 N/A N/A 

Nicaragua 8 5 3 

Panama 4 2 2 

Suriname 0 N/A N/A 

Total 10,332 4,849 5,483 




7.2.1.3 Hearing Members: - 

Country Total Hearing Members 

Costa Rica 2 

Cuba 1,071 

Dominican Republic 0 

El Salvador 0 

Guatemala 1 

Guyana 20 

Haiti 557 

Honduras 1,900 

Mexico 0 

Nicaragua 0 

Panama 0 

Suriname 0 

Total 3,551 

7.2.1.4 Summary Status of the Associations’/Groups’ Memberships: - 

Country Total Deaf Members 

Total Hard of Hearing 

Members 

Total Hearing Members Total Members 

Costa Rica 498 (99%) 0 2 (1%) 500 

Cuba 9,759 (49%) 9,273 (46%) 1,071 (5%) 20,103 

Dominican Republic 55 (100%) 0 0 55 

El Salvador 473 (99%) 3 (1%) 0 476 

Guatemala 37 (76%) 11 (22%) 1 (2%) 49 

Guyana 20 (50%) 0 20 (50%) 40 

Haiti 2,300 (59%) 1,033 (27%) 557 (14%) 3,890 

Honduras 890 (32%) 0 1,900 (68%) 2,790 

Mexico 0 0 0 0 

Nicaragua 793 (99%) 8 (1%) 0 801 

Panama 80 (95%) 4 (5%) 0 84 

Suriname 5 (100%) 0 0 5 

Total 14,910 10,332 3,551 28,793 

7.2.2 In what year was your National Association/Deaf Group established? 

7.2.3 Does your Deaf Association/Deaf Group have Statutes/a Constitution? 

7.2.4 Does your government recognise your national organisation as the representative of Deaf people in your 

country? 

Country 

In what year was your 

National Association/Deaf 

Group established? 

Does your Deaf 

Association/Deaf Group have 

Statutes/a Constitution? 

Does your government recognise 

your national organisation as the 

representative of Deaf people in 

your country? 

Costa Rica 1974 Yes Yes 

Cuba 1978 Yes Yes 

Dominican Republic 2000 Yes Yes 

El Salvador 1987 Yes Yes 

Guatemala 1994 Yes Yes 

Guyana 2005 No Yes 

Haiti 1998 Yes Yes 

Honduras 1979 Yes Yes 

Mexico 1964 Yes Yes 




Nicaragua 1986 Yes Yes 

Panama 1979 Yes Yes 

Suriname 2008 No Unknown 

Total 10 Yes (83%) 


11 Yes (92%) 

7.2.5 Please list some of the areas in which your association has adopted a policy statement. 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 

Country Please list some of the areas in which your association has adopted a policy statement. 


• Education 

• Human Rights for Deaf People 

• Promotion and Defence of Sign Language 

• Recognition of Costa Rican Sign Language (LESCO) 

• Sports and Social Arenas 

With the goal of improving the well-being and integration of people with disabilities, a plan has been 

set in action in the areas of education, culture, recreation, health and employment. This plan of 

action outlines the tasks that ministries and institutions in Cuba must do to work with people with 

disabilities. 

• To encourage the Deaf community in social and cultural development 

• To motivate Deaf people in educational development, life styles and sport 

• To teach Deaf people about responsibilities and rights of members of society 

El Salvador • Area of interpretation 

Guyana 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

• Awareness 

• Advocacy 

• Education 

• To liaise regularly with parents and families of people who have hearing problems 

• To promote continuing education about sign language and prevention of Deafness 

• To ensure access to the outside world by promoting awareness 

• To promote research of sign language in Haiti 

• To gather together necessary equipment and facility requirements 

• To support the socio-psycho-cultural development of children, youth and adults who have a 

hearing problem 

• To assume responsibility, where necessary, to support children, youth and adults with hearing 

problems in successful living 

• To inform Deaf people, via a daily newspaper, of their rights and the organisations and services 

available to help them cope with their handicap 

• To defend the psychosocial and medical rights of Deaf people because, no matter the 

sophistication of assistive equipment, they will always be handicapped 

• To support psychosocial integration and inclusion of Deaf people in the workforce, in particular in 

professional and academic environments 

• To represent Deaf people, both users of sign language and oral Deaf, to public authorities 

• To promote the recognition of sign language in the Haitian Constitution; and to continue to 

promote sign language even after its recognition 

• To lobby for 100% access to televised programmes via sign language and subtitling 

• To encourage the elimination of illiteracy through the use of new communication technologies for 

Deaf people, providing access through sign language, in order to improve their living conditions 

• Human Rights 

• Rights of Deaf People 

• Rights to Education, Employment and Vocational Training 

• Inclusive Education, Interpreting Service, Equal Opportunity 

Congress, including the president, co-operate with the National Council for People with Disabilities 

and also with the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination. Many government institutions 

know of FEMESOR. The State System for the Full Development of the Family (DIF) also works with us. 

Political involvement in Parliament, and national and local government (Congress, Senate) as well as 

Non-Governmental Organisations for information and awareness of the human rights of Deaf people in 

communication access and interpreting services. 

Please note: Subsequently it was discovered that the word ‘policy’ was translated into Spanish incorrectly; this may have 

confused some respondents. 




7.2.6 Please list the six highest priority issues/actions in your strategic action plan. 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 

Country Please list the six highest priority issues/actions in your strategic action plan. 


El Salvador 

Guatemala 

1. To establish relations with public institutions 

2. To improve the quality of Deaf education in Costa Rica 

3. To promote the training of Deaf instructors of LESCO 

4. To provide more information and services to Deaf people in order to encourage affiliation to the 

Deaf Association 

5. To make an agreement with the University of Costa Rica, through PROGRESO, with the goal of 

providing workshops about LESCO and Deaf culture 

6. To renovate the Deaf Association’s building 

1. Fully integrate all people with hearing disabilities in Cuban society through study, work, sport and 

culture 

2. Train members in the moral principles and ideology of our society 

3. Achieve comprehensive care of the Deaf and hard of hearing 

4. Develop surveys to the Deaf community and the rest of society to break communication barriers 

5. To encourage and develop scientific investigations on problems relevant to the Deaf community, in 

partnership with other institutions for the prevention of deafness 

6. Foster relationships with national and foreign organisations which focus on the social integration 

of Deaf and hard of hearing people 

We have meetings twice a month and consult with other Deaf leaders, and have identified the priority 

needs as: 

1. More employment 

2. Better education 

3. Invent a Dominican Republic sign language 

4. Leadership training 

5. More training in general 

6. Projects to change the law 

1. Start the process of researching Lengua de Señas Salvadoreña (LESSA) 

2. Restructure the Commission on LESSA 

3. Establish contacts with Latin American Deaf for training support 

4. Spread awareness about the human right of Deaf people to get education through sign language 

5. Disseminate the correct information about sign language 

6. Encourage the development of young Deaf people in El Salvador through the Youth Commission 

7. Support the creation of associations in all states of the country, with affiliation to the National 

Deaf Association 

1. Sign Language 

2. Education 

3. Interpreters 

4. Training for Women 

5. Health 

6. Contact with organisations of Deaf people in provinces/states 

Guyana No information supplied 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 

1. The psychosocial Integration and inclusion of children, youth and adults who have a hearing 

problem 

2. The prevention of noise pollution and other causes of deafness 

3. The promotion of sign language even after attaining official recognition as a third language in Haiti 

4. To inform Deaf people about STD/HIV, drug misuse, early pregnancy 

5. Training in sign language for parents of Deaf children and members of the general population 

6. To train and organise sign language interpreters 

1. Official Parliamentary recognition of sign language (LESHO) 

2. Standardisation of LESHO 

3. LESHO classes for parents and families 

4. LESHO classes for Deaf people and the general community 

5. Development of a LESHO Dictionary “COMUNIQUEMONOS MEJOR” 

6. Socialisation, according to the Law on the Full Development of People with Disabilities 160 – 2005 

7. Deaf People’s Rights 

8. Human Rights 

Our Action Plan for FEMESOR work is based on the six sections in the General Law for People with a 

Disability; these are: 

1. Education 

2. Employment (Labour) 

3. Accessibility 

4. Health 

5. Art and Culture 

6. Social Development 

FEMESOR has added three more areas: 

1. Mexican Sign Language - Lengua de Señas Mexicana (LSM) 

2. Women 

3. Youth 




Nicaragua 

Panama 

Suriname 

1. Knowledge of sign language by the state for employment Integration of Deaf people 

2. Interpreting services, supported by the state, for TV programmes such as the news and messages 

from the President to the nation 

3. Investigation, compilation and standardisation of Nicaraguan signs 

4. Awareness about sign language in State institutions and in society in general 

5. Demand that the State provide access for Deaf people to all education (primary school, high 

school, University and technical training) 

1. Sign Language 

2. Education (children, youth and adults) 

3. Interpreters 

4. Employment 

5. Parents and families 

6. Government 

1. Literacy Training Programme (Dutch Language) 

2. Empowerment Training 

3. Organisational Development Training for Board 

4. Networking 

5. New Deaf Centre 

7.2.7 Please describe the structure of your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group (e.g. congress/annual 

meeting/board/executive/districts/local associations and so forth). 

Country 

Please describe the structure of your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group (e.g. 

congress/annual meeting/board/executive/districts/local associations and so forth). 

Costa Rica The structure of ANASCOR is: Board of Directors, Finance Officer, Commissions and Member Assembly 

Cuba 


El Salvador 

Guatemala 

• Congress 

• Full National Congress is convened every 2½ years 

• National Council (2 times a year) 

• National Board (monthly) 

• Provincial or Regional Assemblies (every 4 years) 

• Provincial Councils (every 3 years) 

• Provincial Advisory Boards (every 3 months) 

• Municipal Assemblies (Ordinary every 6 months and Extraordinary every 2 years to elect their 

representatives) 

• Municipal Boards (1 time per month) 

• President 

• Vice President 

• Secretary 

• Treasurer 

• Member 

• Assessor 

Two General Assemblies per year for all Deaf Association members. 

Weekly ordinary meetings of each association. 

General Assembly 

• President 

• Vice President 

• Secretary 

• Treasurer 

• 4 Board Members 

• Assessors 

Guyana It is still in the informal stage with a steering committee. 

Haiti 

• The Board of Directors 

• The General Meeting 

• Executive Management 

• Other centres, programmes, units, organisations and associations 

Honduras Organisational Chart supplied 

Mexico 

The structure of our organisation: We are an Ordinary Member of WFD; we have an Annual General 

Assembly with the 16 state association members. 

The Board has a meeting every three months, disseminates information to the Deaf Community every 

three months and also has meetings with state associations. 

Nicaragua ANSNI has a General Assembly, Board of Directors, Financial Boards and Work Commissions 

We do not have a national structure; at the moment we have regional associations: 

• Chiriqui Association of the Deaf (Asociacion de Sordos de Chiriqui) 

Panama 

• 

• 

Azuero Association of the Deaf (Asociacion de Sordos de Azuero) 

Veraguas Association of the Deaf (Asociacion de Sordos de Veraguas) 

The Colon Association of the Deaf (Asociación de Sordos de Colon) and Boca de Toro Association of the 

Deaf (Asociación de Sordos Boca de Toro) do not have legal constitutions; perhaps they will later. 




Suriname 

We have a Committee of Parents and Families. 

Board: 

• President 

• Secretary 

• Finance Officer 

7.2.7.1 How many affiliated regional and/or local Deaf Associations are part of your National Association of the Deaf? 

Country Regional Associations Local Associations 


Cuba 15 169 

Dominican Republic 0 1 

El Salvador 1 1 

Guatemala 0 0 

Guyana 0 0 

Haiti 0 12 

Honduras 7 0 

Mexico 16 0 


Panama 4 2 

Suriname 0 0 

Total 43 199 

7.2.8 How many members of your board are Deaf? 

Country 

How many members of your 

board are Deaf? 

Total number of Board Members 

Percentage of Deaf on the 

Board 

Costa Rica 8 8 100% 

Cuba 19 22 86% 

Dominican Republic 7 7 100% 

El Salvador 7 14 50% 

Guatemala 10 10 100% 

Guyana 2 6 33% 

Haiti 4 7 57% 

Honduras 8 8 100% 

Mexico 7 7 100% 

Nicaragua 7 7 100% 

Panama N/A N/A N/A 

Suriname 6 6 100% 

Total 85 102 83% 




7.2.9 How many members of the board are Deaf women and how many are Deaf men? 

Country Deaf Women Board Members Deaf Men Board Members 

Percentage of Deaf Women on the 

Board 

Costa Rica 2 6 25% 

Cuba 1 18 5% 

Dominican Republic 3 4 43% 

El Salvador 3 4 43% 

Guatemala 1 9 10% 

Guyana 2 0 100% 

Haiti 2 2 50% 

Honduras 3 5 38% 

Mexico 4 3 57% 

Nicaragua 5 2 71% 

Panama N/A N/A N/A 

Suriname 3 3 50% 

Total 29 56 34% 

Please note: The Regional Co-ordinator attempted to contact the Deaf Association in Panama to obtain the correct number 

of board members as they had stated they had 250 Board Members. 

7.2.10 Does your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group have committees for specific areas of interest or 

affiliation with any other relevant independent groups in your country? 

Does your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group have committees for specific areas 

of interest or affiliation with any other relevant independent groups in your country? 

Sign Language Research 7 (70%) 

Deaf Education 6 (60%) 

Deafblind 6 (60%) 

Sign Language Interpreting 6 (60%) 

Sports Groups 6 (60%) 

Deaf Youth 5 (50%) 

Deaf People with Other Disabilities 5 (50%) 

Children of Deaf Adults 4 (40%) 

Cultural Groups of Deaf People 4 (40%) 

Deaf Women’s Groups 4 (40%) 

Parents of Deaf Children 4 (40%) 

Deaf Seniors 3 (30%) 

Other Committees 3 (30%) 

Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual 2 (20%) 

Country Other Committees/Groups 

Costa Rica 


Haiti 

Country/Average 

Percentage 

Based on 10 Respondents 

National Commission on LESCO 

Funding Support Commission 

Yes, we have a commission on sign language. 

• Haitian Coalition for the Defence of the Rights of the Child (COHADDE) 

• State Chancery for Elimination of Illiteracy (SEA) 

• State Chancery for the Integration of Handicapped People (SEIPH) 

• Ministry for Public Health and Population (MSPP) 

• Social Ministry for Affairs and Work (MAST) 

• Association for the Prevention of Alcoholism and other Chemical Dependencies (APAAC) 

• National Network of Associations for the Integration of Handicapped People (RANIPH) 

• Five schools for Deaf children 

• Other Non-Governmental Organisations, and organisations working in the fight against MST and 

against discrimination related to HIV/AIDS 




Both Guyana and Suriname stated they do not have any specific areas of interest nor affiliation with any relevant groups in 

their countries. 

Country 

Does your National Association of the Deaf have committees for specific areas of interest or 

affiliation with any other relevant independent groups in your country? 

Costa Rica Sign Language Interpreting 

Cuba Sign Language Interpreting 

Sign Language Research 

Deaf Education 

Deafblind 

Cultural Groups of Deaf People 

Sport Groups 

Deaf People with Other Disabilities 

Dominican Republic Sign Language Research 

EL Salvador Deaf Education 


Deaf Seniors 


Deaf Youth 

Sports Groups 


Children of Deaf Adults 

Guatemala Sign Language Interpreting 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 


Deaf Women’s Groups 

Sign Language Interpreting 







Deaf Sports 


Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual 






Sports Groups 














Nicaragua 

Panama 







Sport Groups 






Sports Groups 


Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual 


7.2.11 Does your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group have any paid staff members? 

7.2.11.1 How many of the paid staff members are women and how many are men? 

7.2.11.2 How many of the paid staff members are Deaf? 

Does your 

National 

Association 

of the 

Country Deaf/Deaf 

Group have 

any paid 

staff 

members? 

Costa Rica No 

Total Paid 

Staff 

Members 

Paid 

Women 




Paid 

Men 

Total Paid 

Deaf Staff 

Members 

Paid 

Deaf 

Women 

Paid 


Men 

Percentage 

of Deaf 

Staff 

Members 

Cuba Yes 39 18 21 8 5 3 21% 

Dominican 

Republic 

No 

El Salvador No 

Guatemala Yes 13 8 5 9 5 4 69% 

Guyana No 

Haiti No 

Honduras Yes 14 7 7 12 6 6 86% 

Mexico No 

Nicaragua Yes 13 7 6 9 4 5 69% 

Panama No 

Suriname No 

Total 

4 Yes 

(33%) 79 38 48% 

Based on 12 respondents

7.2.12 Is your Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director/Person-In-Charge Deaf? 

Country Is your Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director/Person-In-Charge Deaf? 

Cuba Yes 

Guatemala Yes 

Honduras Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 


Based on four respondents 




7.3.0 Population of Deaf People 

7.3.1 Does your country’s government have any official number of Deaf people in your country? 

Country 

Does your country’s government have any official number of Deaf people in 

your country? 


Costa Rica Yes 26,235 


Dominican Republic No 


Guatemala No 


Haiti Yes 18,948 

Honduras Yes 34,775 

Mexico Yes 2,000,000 

Nicaragua No 



Total 6 Yes (50%) 2,109,876 

Country Deaf Women Deaf Men 

Costa Rica 11,057 15,178 

Cuba N/A N/A 

Haiti 10,038 8,910 

Honduras N/A N/A 

Mexico 1,210,000 790,000 

Panama 5,000 4,000 

Total 1,236,095 818,088 


7.3.2 Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate figures of the number of Deaf people living in your 

country? 

Country 

Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate figures of the 

number of Deaf people living in your country? 




Dominican Republic Yes 60,000 * 

El Salvador Yes 7,028 









Total 7 Yes (58%) 221,347 


Please note: The Director of WFD MCAC obtained the number 60,000 for the Dominican Republic from CONADIS when he 

visited the Dominican Republic after the Regional Working Group Meeting. 




Country Deaf Women Deaf Men 

El Salvador 3,177 3,851 




Panama 5,000 4,000 

Total 74,981 62,730 

7.3.3 Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate numbers of Deaf people who use sign language as 

their primary language? 

Country 

Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate 

numbers of Deaf people who use sign language as their 

primary language? 

Total Number of Sign Language 

Users 

Costa Rica Yes 498 




Guatemala Yes 207 




Mexico Yes 300,000 




Total 8 Yes (67%) 361,147 


Country Deaf Women Sign Language Users Deaf Men Sign Language Users 


Cuba 4,542 5,217 

Guatemala 0 0 

Guyana 0 0 



Mexico 100,000 200,000 


Panama 5,000 4,000 

Total 132,545 228,395 




7.3.4. Does the situation of HIV/AIDS in your country affect Deaf women, men and children? 

Country Does the situation of HIV/AIDS in your country affect Deaf women, men and children? 

Costa Rica No Information 

Cuba Yes 

Dominican Republic No Information 



Guyana No Information 

Haiti Yes 

Honduras No Information 


Nicaragua No information 




Country 

Cuba 

Haiti 


If yes, please describe the situation with HIV/AIDS in the Deaf community in your country, including any 

official statistics on the number of Deaf people living with HIV/AIDS. 

Through the Ministry of Health (MINISAP) these people are offered free medical care and medicines. Services that 

exist for the general population, such as access to different means of transportation (handled by the security 

system) or social assistance, are also available to them according to normal procedures. In our country there are 

no homeless people or discrimination. 

Example: On 3 February 2008, for the first time in Haiti 71 Deaf-mutes (30 women and 41 men) were tested and 

the following was found: 

• Two (2) of the tests were positive (1 woman and 1 man) 

• Sixty seven (67) of the tests were negative (28 women and 39 men) 

• Two (2) were indefinite (1 woman and 1 man) 

• 20 of the subjects were homosexual 

• 17 of the subjects were prostitutes 

• 38 of the subjects had more than one partner 

The Ministry of Health subsequently instructed CAPPA-SOURDS-HAITI to work on awareness and identification of 

Deaf people with HIV/AIDS. 




7.4.0 Legislation and Policies 

7.4.1 Does your country’s government recognise Deaf people as citizens on an equal basis as other citizens in your 

country? 

Country 

Does your country’s government recognise Deaf people as citizens on an equal basis as other 

citizens in your country? 

Costa Rica Yes 

Cuba Yes 

Dominican Republic Yes 

El Salvador Yes 

Guatemala Yes 

Guyana Yes 


Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 

Panama Yes 




Please note:- The Regional Working Group strongly believed the chance was small that the governments in those countries 

that responded ‘Yes’ actually did recognise Deaf people as equal citizens. These answers should be changed to ‘No’. 

7.4.2 Does your country’s government have an office responsible for services for People with Disabilities? 

Country 

Does your country’s government have an office responsible for services for People with 

Disabilities? 


Cuba Yes 



Guatemala Yes 

Guyana Yes 

Haiti Yes 

Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 

Panama Yes 

Suriname Yes 






7.4.2.1 If yes, what is the name, address and website of the government office that is responsible for services for 

People with Disabilities in your country? 

If yes, what is the name, address and website of the government office that is responsible for 

Country 

services for People with Disabilities in your country? 

The National Council on Rehabilitation and Special Education - Consejo Nacional de Rehabilitacion y 

Education Especial (CNREE) gives some subsidies to Deaf students in Deaf Adult Education Centres. 

Costa Rica 

However, we are not happy with it because CNREE needs to learn more about Deaf Culture. We feel 

their approach is not good. 

Cuba ANSOC, National Association of the Blind, National Association of the Physically Disabled 

National Council on Disability - Consejo Nacional de Discapacidad (CONADIS) 

Dominican Republic C/ Arz. Portes No. 554, Ciudad Nueva, Santo Domingo D.N., República Dominicana 

www.gabsocial.gov.do/conadis 

National Council for Attention to People with Disabilities CONAIPD, Rehabilitation Institute for the 

El Salvador 

Handicapped ISRI and FUNTER 

Guatemala National Commission of the Disabled CONADI, Social Secretariat of the First Lady of the Presidency 

Guyana National Commission on Disability, 40 Croal Street, Stabroek, Georgetown 

66, Rue Fernand, Canapé-Vert, Port-au-Prince, Haïti 

Haiti 

info@seiph.gouv.ht 

www.seiph.gouv.ht 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

Panama 

• Honduras National Federation of Organisations of People with a Disability 

• Honduras Organisation of Institutions and Rehabilitation Associations 

National Council for Persons with Disabilities 

www.conadis.salud.gob.mx 

www.conadis@salud.gob.mx 

• Defenders of the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities 

• National Council for the Prevention, Rehabilitation and Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons 

with Disabilities (CONARE) 

• National Ministry of Disability, First Lady of the Republic of Panamá 

• Panama Institute of Special Habilitation (IPHE) 

Suriname No information supplied 

7.4.3 Does your country’s Government have any legislation or policies for Deaf people (or People with Disabilities in 

general)? 

Country 

Does your country’s Government have any legislation or policies for Deaf people (or People with 

Disabilities in general)? 


Cuba Yes 



Guatemala Yes 



Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 

Panama Yes 







7.4.3.1 If yes, please list some of the policies or legislation that relate to Deaf people (or People with Disabilities) 

(please write the name of the legislation or policy in full). 

If yes, please list some of the policies or legislation that relate to Deaf people (or People with 

Country 

Disabilities) (please write the name of the legislation or policy in full). 

Law No 7600 – Equal Opportunity for Disabled People in Costa Rica 

Costa Rica 

Policy of the Law 7600 - 

There is no one specific law, however there are laws, decrees, rules, regulations in different legal 

Cuba 

bodies, for example the Code of Children and Youth, the Family Code, the Civil Code, the Labour Code 

and the Penal Code, which govern exercise of the rights of people with disabilities without exclusion. 

Dominican Republic Official Gazette No. 1049 of the 30th of June 2000 

El Salvador Equalisation of Opportunities Act 

Guatemala Care of the Disabled Law 135 - 96 

Honduras Law for Equality and Full Development of Persons with a Disability 160 – 2005 

Mexico In 2005, we adopted the General Law for People with Disabilities, which includes the right to LSM 

Law 202 – Law for the Prevention, Rehabilitation and Equalisation of Opportunities for People with 

Nicaragua 

Disabilities, 

General Law for Education 

Panama Law 92 – Deaf Rights 

7.4.4 Does your country’s Government have any anti-discrimination laws for Deaf people (or People with Disabilities)? 

Country 

Does your country’s Government have any anti-discrimination laws for Deaf people (or People with 

Disabilities)? 


Cuba No 






Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 


Panama Yes 

Suriname Yes 



7.4.5 Does your country’s government provide any services specifically for the Deaf Community through its 

government departments? 

Country 

Does your country’s government provide any services specifically for the Deaf Community through 

its government departments? 

Costa Rica 

Cuba Yes 






Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 

Panama Yes 

Suriname Yes 





Yes 


7.4.5.1 If yes, what types of service are provided specifically for the Deaf Community by your country’s government? 

7.4.5.2 What is the general opinion of the current service(s) specifically provided for the Deaf Community by your 


Country 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 

If yes, what types of service are provided 

specifically for the Deaf Community by your 


Deaf Schools and University Facilities for Deaf 

Students, Hospitals, Hearing Aid Service, Scholarships 

for Deaf Students and Interpreting Service for the 

Courts 

Audiology Centre, Closed Captioning, Cuban Sign 

Language Interpreting Service, Diagnostic and 

Counselling Centre. Social Assistance from the Ministry 

of Labour and Social Security 

El Salvador Education, Oral Rehabilitation, Health 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

Panama 

Deaf Schools and University Facilities for Deaf 

Students, Hospitals, Scholarships for Deaf Students 

and Interpreting Service for the Courts 

The Ministry of Health gives hearing aids to Deaf 

people; the Ministry of Education provides workshops 

for teachers of both Deaf and hearing children to 

develop more professional and specialist knowledge 

about Deaf children. 

The government supports Deaf people with a small 

monthly disability pension and other programmes of 

support for Deaf people. 

Only Primary Education is given. In the schools special 

education is the same as regular education via 

inclusive education. 

Optical, Hearing Aids, Scholarships for Deaf Students 

and Financial Assistance 

Please note: Suriname is unable to provide sufficient information. 

What is the general opinion of the current service(s) 

specifically provided for the Deaf Community by 

your country’s government? 

1. The Government needs more sensitivity because 

they don’t consult with us about Deaf projects 

2. More attention must be given to funding the 

necessary services for Deaf people 

3. The Government/State is very bureaucratic 

4. Deaf people need more information how to lobby 

Government to support Deaf services 

Favourable, as the social gains achieved in the field of 

disability are due to the systematic application of 

unique social politics with the State as principal; this 

guarantees enforcement through the co-ordination of 

the actions of various agencies and institutions, which 

are important resources. 

In education, there is a need for better qualifications, 

more development in LESSA for the teachers, more 

learning concepts for the students, more respect for 

the communication of Deaf people and also need for a 

better environment and the right educational 

materials. In the health area, although we have 

accessibility at the same time we need more 

interpreters because too many Deaf access this with 

members of their family. 

Average 

Average 

It is very limited because the possibility for Deaf 

people to attend High School with interpreting 

services only exists because of demand from the Deaf 

community and it actually benefits only about 52 Deaf 

students in a school in the capital city. ANSNIC liaises 

with the Ministry of Education and other important 

institutions such as the police (civil, tribunal and 

penal services), to ensure Deaf people can get free 

interpreting services. 

Average 




7.4.5.3 If no, why does your country’s government not provide any service specifically for the Deaf Community? 

Country 

If no, why does your country’s government not provide any service specifically for the Deaf 

Community? 


Because they don’t have the experience and skill necessary to provide specific services for the Deaf 

community. 

Guatemala The Government does not provide any services for the Deaf community. 

Guyana Poor level of awareness. 

Haiti 

Deaf people are a minority group, who are much neglected. The Deaf community is the most neglected 

group of all the handicapped groups in the country. 

7.4.6 Does your Association/Group have any contact with your current country’s government? 

7.4.6.1 What type of contact does your Association/Group have with your country’s current government? 

Country 

Costa Rica 

Does your 

Association/Group 

have any contact 

with your current 

country’s 

government? 

Yes 

Cuba Yes 


What type of contact does your Association/Group have with your country’s 

current government? 

Contact through the National Council on Rehabilitation and Special Education - 

Consejo Nacional de Rehabilitacion y Educacion Especial. 

There is a National Council on Care for People with Disabilities (CONAPED), which 

is a multi-sectoral working group mediating resolution #4 of 2 April 2 1996 of the 

Ministry of Labour and Social Security. There is also increasingly cohesive cooperation 

between the State administrative agencies. 


The association is a member of the Ministry, also of CONAIPD and the National 

Secretariat of the Family. 

Guatemala Yes 

Trimester financial reports, monthly passive and active financial reports, annual 

reports and reports on activities. 

Guyana Yes Unofficial 

Our Association CAPPA-SOURDS-HAITI takes part in meetings about handicapped 

Haiti Yes 

people, including about a bill proposing the recognition of sign language and the 

rights of Deaf people. We offer Government free sign language courses. We invite 

government representatives to gatherings of signing Deaf people. 

Honduras Yes 

We have management of small and large projects, which are funded by the 

government. Our credibility with this is 100%. 

Mexico Yes 

The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public Education, Ministry of Labour and the 

Presidency. 

ANSNIC co-operates with Senators of the National Congress to enact laws for the 

Nicaragua Yes benefit of Deaf people. We also co-operate with the Ministry of Education, the 

Ministry of Health and the Mayor’s office. 

Panama Yes National Ministry on Disability, First Lady of the Republic of Panamá 




7.4.7 Does your Association/Group receive any financial support from your country’s current government? 

7.4.7.1 What is the amount of annual financial support from your country’s government? 

Country 

Does your 


receive any financial 

support from your 

current country’s 

government? 

What is the amount of annual financial support from your country’s 

current government? 

Costa Rica Yes 6,400,000 Colonies USD12,800.00 (8,642€ on 29 th February 2008) 

Cuba Yes 5090 - 0 Miles de Pesos(3,634€ on 29 th February 2008) 



Guatemala Yes Q1,000,000.00 = USD131,579 (86,989€ on 29 th February 2008) 






Honduras Yes USD20,000 (13,222€ on 29 th February 2008) 







7.4.7.2 What is the purpose of the financial support from your country’s government to the Deaf Community? 

Country What is the purpose of the financial support from your country’s government to the Deaf Community? 

Costa Rica Scholarship Programme for Deaf Students 

Cuba 

Guatemala 

Honduras 

Encourage the development of the national association to foster a good working relationship with its partners 

and to give better attention to the same despite the economic blockade by the United States. Were it not for 

this blockade, more resources would be available to the Deaf Community in Cuba. 

Optical, supply hearing aids for Deaf people, speech therapy, Interpreting Service, Deaf Awareness Programme 

for the hearing community including parents, sign language courses, computer equipment, Sign Language Work 

Group to develop a dictionary and Recreation Programmes. 

For management of national projects to improve the living conditions (currently sub-human) for Deaf people in 

Honduras. 

7.4.8 Do Deaf people have a right to vote in national, regional and local elections? 

7.4.9 Are Deaf people allowed to obtain a driver’s licence? 

7.4.10 Are Deaf people allowed to marry Deaf or other partners? 

7.4.11 Are Deaf people allowed to have children? 

7.4.12 Are Deaf people allowed to adopt children? 

Country 

Do Deaf people 

have a right to 

vote in national, 

regional and local 

elections? 

Are Deaf people 

allowed to 

obtain a driver’s 

licence? 


allowed to marry 

Deaf or other 

partners? 


allowed to have 

children? 


allowed to adopt 

children? 

Costa Rica Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Cuba Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Dominican Republic Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

El Salvador Yes Yes Yes Yes No 

Guatemala Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Guyana Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Haiti Yes No Yes Yes No 

Honduras Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Mexico Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Nicaragua Yes No Yes Yes Yes 

Panama Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Suriname Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown 

Total 12 Yes (100%) 10 Yes (83%) 12 Yes (100%) 12 Yes (100%) 9 Yes (75%) 


7.4.12.1 If Deaf people are not allowed to drive, please list the Government legislation or policy that stops them from 

being allowed to drive. 

Country 

Haiti 

If Deaf people are not allowed to drive, please list the Government legislation or policy that stops them 

from being allowed to drive. 

There is no governmental legislation or policy preventing this, however it will never be permitted by the person 

in charge of the national police force’s road traffic division, because a Deaf person is a handicapped person. 

Nicaragua No information supplied 




7.4.12.2 If Deaf people are not allowed to adopt children, please list any specific Government legislation or policy that 

stops Deaf people from being allowed to adopt children. 

Country 

El Salvador 

Haiti 

If Deaf people are not allowed to adopt children, please list any specific Government legislation or policy 

that stops Deaf people from being allowed to adopt children. 

There is no legislation preventing Deaf people from adopting children, however society does not permit Deaf 

people to adopt. 

There is no governmental legislation or policy preventing this, however it will never be permitted by the person 

in charge of the I.B.E.S.R. that a Deaf person is authorised to adopt a child. 




7.5.0 Access to Government Services 

7.5.1 Do Deaf people have access to government services such as education, health care, employment, social welfare 

and any general government services? 

7.5.1.1 If yes, how do Deaf people access these government services? 

7.5.1.2 Are Deaf people satisfied with the level of access they have to the government services? 

Country 


have access to 

government 

services such as 

education, health 

care, employment, 

social welfare and 

any general 

government 

services? 


Cuba Yes 



Guatemala Yes 



Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 

Panama Yes 



If yes, how do Deaf people access 

these government services? 

Access to government services is 

provided for in Law 7600 

Quite naturally like any citizen of 

our country, without distinction, 

with priority given to members of 

the association. For example 

children under 5 years of age with 

Deaf parents have priority to enter 

childcare whether the mother works 

or not. Members pay 50% of the 

price of transport, also for tickets to 

theatrical performances & other 

activities. 

Now working on inclusion of children 

& youth in schools all around the 

country. 

The same as hearing persons, and as 

necessary. 

The constitution gives equal rights in 

education, health and social life. 

ANSH regularly sends information to 

parents and families about support 

in school and high school; and we 

have direct contact and lobby 

government. 

The problem in Mexico is there are 

few Deaf and hearing teachers who 

know LSM. We are now in the 

process of developing more 

workshops for teachers. 

Access to government services is the 

same as that of any citizen in the 

country. 

There are many problems because 

some Deaf want to work as teachers 

but the Ministry of Education will 

not accept this. 


Are Deaf people satisfied with the level 

of access they have to the government 

services? 

Deaf people are not happy because many 

institutions do not attend to Law 7600. 

Yes, because the social programmes 

taking place in our country are 

qualitatively superior in the areas of 

education, employment, social security, 

social services, housing and transport 

among others. 

No, because it is very limited. 

No, there is a need for more quality to 

make the Deaf community happy. 

No, the basic service is from the 

government and there is not enough for 

all people (Deaf and hearing). 

No, since there is no access to these 

governmental services. 

More or less, but we are conscientious 

that there is much lacking; there are 

areas that are not covered. The 

Association continues working to change 

this, since most of the Interpreting 

Service Centres do not offer support. 

No, previously we did not have access to 

university because we didn’t have 

interpreters. Now we are working to 

train interpreters. 

No, because it is very limited & there are 

many cases of Deaf people not having 

equality with hearing people in the 

country. The law says that places of 

employment must give 2% of their 

employee positions to people with 

disabilities & provide these employees 

with the conditions necessary to do their 

work. 

Limited; some places of employment do 

not give a good salary, because Deaf are 

disabled. 




7.5.2 Are Deaf people entitled to any financial assistance from your country’s government? 

7.5.2.1 What type of financial assistance are Deaf people entitled to receive from your country’s government? 

Country 

Are Deaf 

people 

entitled to 

any financial 

assistance 

from your 

country’s 

government? 

Disability 

Allowance 

General 

Pension 

Disabilityspecific 

Pension 

Costa Rica Yes 

Cuba Yes 



 

Guatemala Yes 

Other Description 

Guyana Yes Social Welfare 


Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 







 


 

 

We have the right to it but no 

Deaf people have claimed any 

financial assistance. 

A special allowance for all 

students (Primary – Secondary 

Educations)

7.6.0 Access to the Media 

7.6.1 Does your country’s government provide sign language services for news and/or current affairs programmes on 

public television? 

Country 

Does your country’s 

government provide 

sign language 

services for news 

and/or current affairs 

programmes on 

public television? 


Cuba Yes 



Please provide detailed information on how many hours or days per week 

Deaf people receive sign language services for news and/or current affairs 

programmes on public television. 

One programme - 30 minutes once a week 

Every morning a one-hour programme provided by two stations 

ANSOC National News 16:30 to 16:45, Monday to Friday 

News Bulletin 9:15 (Three minutes) Sunday 

TELCENTROS in all 15 provinces has a space for each state’s local news 

Guatemala Yes A private station provides a one-hour programme every Saturday afternoon 


Haiti Yes 45 minutes per week; this programme will start in two months 

Honduras Yes 

Only one regional television station provides a one-hour programme every 

Monday afternoon 

Mexico Yes Only two minutes broadcast at 14.00 on Monday and Friday 


Panama Yes The news in the morning has an interpreter in the corner of the screen 




7.6.2 Does your country’s government provide subtitles/captions for news and/or current affairs programmes? 

Country 

Does your country’s 

government provide 

subtitles/captions for 

news and/or current 

affairs programmes? 

Please provide detailed information on how many hours/days per week 

news/current affairs programmes (subtitled/captioned) are offered for 

Deaf people? 

Costa Rica Yes Every morning a one-hour programme provided by two stations 

Cuba Yes Same answer as in 7.6.1 






Honduras No 


Nicaragua Yes No Information supplied 








7.6.3 Does your country’s government offer governmental documents in your country’s sign language(s)? 

Costa Rica 

Country Does your country’s government offer governmental documents in your country’s sign language(s)? 
















No 


7.7.0 Status of the National Sign Language(s) 

7.7.1 Does your country’s government formally recognise your country’s sign language(s)? 

7.7.1.1 What legislation/regulation formally recognises your country’s sign language(s)? 

7.7.1.2 When did your country’s government formally recognise your country’s sign language(s)? 

7.7.1.3 Does your Deaf Association/Deaf Group lobby your government for the recognition of your country’s sign 

language(s)? 

7.7.1.4 If no, please explain the reason your Association/Group does not lobby your current government for the 

recognition of your country’s sign language(s). 

Country 

Does your 

country’s 

government 

formally 

recognise 

your 

country’s sign 

language(s)? 


Cuba Yes 


El Salvador 

Yes 

What 

legislation/ 

regulation 

formally 

recognises 

your country’s 

sign 

language(s)? 

Policy and 

Guideline 

Policy 

In fact, steps 

are being 

taken to 

legalise the 

informal 

recognition by 

government 

institutions 

that exists 

today. 

Accepting this 

legalisation is 

in process. 

National 

Council on 

Disability - 

CONADIS law 

42-2000 

General Law on 

Disability, 

Official 

Gazette 10049 

Guideline 

No official 

legislation 

supporting the 

use of LESSA, 

but anyone is 

free to use 

LESSA or ASL 

When did your 

country’s government 

formally recognise 

your country’s sign 

language(s)? 

Does your 


Association/De 

af Group lobby 

your 

government 

for the 

recognition of 

your country’s 

sign 

language(s)? 

January 2001 Yes 

The educational aspect 

has been recognised by 

the Ministry of 

Education since 1994 

If no, please explain 

the reason your 


does not lobby your 

current government 

for the recognition 

of your country’s 

sign language(s). 




Yes 

30 June 2000 No 

Informal in 1997, when 

the School for the Deaf 

“Licenciada Griselda 

Zeledon” started in San 

Salvador 

Guatemala No No 

Guyana No No 

Haiti No Yes 

Yes 

Our Association is 

trying to become 

more organised and 

we are creating 

priorities and 

responsibilities with 

leaders. 

Because we need 

more information, 

time and resources. 

The Government does 

not reject the use of 

sign language. Its 

officers recognise it 

as the communication 

tool of Deaf persons, 

although this 

recognition is not 

supported by 

legislation.

Honduras No Yes 

Mexico Yes Legislation 2005 Yes 

Now in process in 

Parliament based on a 

proposal from Senator 

Dayana Martinez. 

Nicaragua 

No Yes 

ANSCNIC presented 

the Commission of 

Education of the 

National Assembly 

with a project for 

2008 to increase legal 

knowledge and work 

towards acceptance 

and approval of the 

Nicaraguan Sign 

Language - Idioma de 

Señas Nicaraguense. 

Panama Yes Legislation 2004 No No 

Suriname No No 



7 Yes (58%) 

7.7.2 Does your country have a sign language dictionary? 

Costa Rica 

Country Does your country have a sign language dictionary? 

Yes 

Cuba Yes 



Guatemala Yes 



Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 

Panama Yes 




We do not have a 

national sign 

language. We need 

Dutch sign language. 




7.8.0 Access to Education 

7.8.1 Does your country’s government recognise that Deaf children and Deaf students have the right to receive an 

education? 

7.8.2 Does your country’s government have any legislation or policies on Deaf Education? 

7.8.2.1 If yes, please list the specific name of the legislation or policies relating to Deaf Education. 

Country 

Does your 

country’s 

government 

recognise that 

Deaf children 

and Deaf 

students have 

the right to 

receive an 

education? 

Does your 

country’s 

government 

have any 

legislation or 

policies on Deaf 

Education? 

Costa Rica Yes Yes 

Cuba Yes Yes 

Dominican Republic Yes No 

El Salvador Yes No 

Guatemala Yes Yes 

Guyana Yes No 

Haiti Yes No 

Honduras Yes Yes 

Mexico Yes Yes 

Nicaragua Yes No 

If yes, please list the specific name of the legislation or 

policies relating to Deaf Education. 

Law No 7600 – Equal Opportunity for People with Disabilities: 

Norms and Processes of Deaf Education for Children, Young 

People and Adults 

We have legal documents that are very specific about the right 

to Deaf Education. 

School Integration Law: says that students with a hearing 

disability can receive inclusive education in regular schools. The 

law says all children have the right to education but there is no 

special education for Deaf people. 

Law No 160 – 2005, Equality and Full Development of People 

with Disabilities 

General Law for People with Disabilities (2005). Education for 

Deaf people is bilingual and they have a right to use LSM. 

Panama Yes Yes Inclusive Education (Normal Schools) 

Suriname Yes No 

Total 12 Yes (100%) 6 Yes (50%) 


Please note: The Regional Working Group queried those six countries who replied that there was no legislation or policy on 

Deaf Education; the Regional Co-ordinator has extensive experience in the field of Deaf Education in the region, and he 

stated that in 1996 every country’s government signed the “Law for Equal Opportunities for People with Disabilities” (Ley de 

Equiparación de Oportunidades para las personas con Discapacidad). He was able to locate examples of laws from the 

Internet, as follows: 

Costa Rica: 

http://biblioteca.cipet.ac.cr/files/Ley%207600%20%20y%20reglamento%20igualdad%20de%20oportunidades.pdf 

Guatemala: 

http://www.acnur.org/biblioteca/pdf/0147.pdf 




El Salvador: 

Ley de Equiparación de Oportunidades para las personas con Discapacidad 

Diario Oficial # 95, l Tomo # 347, Decreto # 888, publicado el 24 de Mayo de 2001 

http://www.elsalvador-in.com/talento1.html 

Nicaragua: 

Ley No. 202, Ley de Prevencion, Rehabilitación y Equipacarcion de Oportunidades para personas con Discapacidad 

Tomado de “La Gaceta”- Diario Oficial No. 180. del 27/9/95 

http://www.poder-judicial.go.cr/accesibilidad/derechos/03.%20Leyes%20Discapacidad/03.d.%20Ley%20202%20Nicaragua.doc 

7.8.3 Does your country’s government provide any of the following educational settings for Deaf children and Deaf 

students? 

Country 

Early 

intervention 

(Up to 5 years 

old) 

Kindergarten 

(Between 3/4 

years old to 5/6 

years old) 

Primary 

(From 5/6 

years old 

to 12/13 

years old) 

Secondary 

(From 12/13 

years old to 

17/18 years 

old) 

University 

(After 18 

years old) 

Vocational 


Costa Rica Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Cuba Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Dominican Republic Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear Unclear 

El Salvador Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Guatemala No No No No No No 

Guyana No Yes Yes Yes No No 

Haiti No No No No No No 

Honduras Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Mexico Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 

Nicaragua No Yes Yes Yes No No 

Panama Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Suriname Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 

Total 7 Yes (58%) 8 Yes (66%) 

9 Yes 

(75%) 

9 Yes (75%) 5 Yes (41%) 6 Yes (50%) 


Please note: One member of the Regional Working Group, from Guatemala, stated that her country’s government is not 

responsible to manage schools for Deaf children; however there are schools for Deaf children managed by private 

institutions. Some of the answers received via the survey changed because the Regional Working Group knew factual 

information about schools for Deaf children in the WFD MCAC Region. 

The WFD MCAC Regional Director visited the Dominican Republic where he was hoping to obtain information on educational 

settings; unfortunately he was unable to do so therefore all information for the Dominican Republic is recorded as Unknown. 




7.8.4 Does your country’s government provide bilingual education using your country’s sign language(s) for Deaf 

children and Deaf students in your country? 

Country 

Costa Rica 

Does your country’s government provide bilingual education using your country’s sign language(s) 

for Deaf children and Deaf students in your country? 

Cuba Yes 






Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 


Suriname Yes 





Yes 


7.8.4.1 If yes, in which educational setting is bilingual education offered in your country using your sign language(s)? 

Country 

Early 

intervention 

(Up to 5 years 

old) 

Kindergarten 

(Between 3/4 

years old to 5/6 

years old) 

Primary 

(From 5/6 

years old to 

12/13 years 

old) 

Secondary 

(From 12/13 

years old to 

17/18 years 

old) 

University 

(After 18 years 

old) 

Vocational 


Costa Rica Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Cuba Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

El Salvador Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Honduras Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

Mexico Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 

Nicaragua No No Yes Yes No No 

Suriname Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 

Total 6 Yes (85%) 5 Yes (71%) 7 Yes (100%) 7 Yes (100%) 4 Yes (57%) 5 Yes (71%) 


7.8.5 Does your country have any schools specifically for Deaf children and Deaf students? 

7.8.5.1 If yes, how many Deaf schools does your country have? 

Country 

Does your country have any schools 

specifically for Deaf children and Deaf 

students? 


If yes, how many Deaf schools does your country have? 

2 Deaf schools 

2 Deaf Units in Special Education Schools 

1 Deaf Adult Education Centre 

7 Inclusive Education programmes at Hearing Public Schools 

Cuba Yes 16 Deaf Schools 

1 National School for Deaf and Mute Children and 10 

Regional Schools for Deaf and Mute Children 


1 Institute “Santa Rosa” to Assist Deaf Pupils 

1 Christian Centre of Education for Deaf 

5 Schools included in a Church 


3 National Schools 

1 Private School 

Guatemala Yes 9 Private Schools (No Government Schools) 

Guyana Yes 1 Deaf School 

Haiti Yes 5 Deaf Schools

Honduras Yes 

6 Government Schools 

3 Private Schools 

3 Regional Deaf Schools (Private) provide Bilingual education 

Mexico Yes 

Many Private Schools (Oral Education) 

Many Government Schools (Oral Education) 

17 Hearing Schools (Government) with a classroom for Deaf 

Nicaragua Yes 

Students 

Hearing Schools (Private) with a specialised classroom for 

Deaf students 

1 Special School for the Deaf (IPHE) (government) 

Panama Yes 

9 Regional Schools for the Deaf (government) 

Inclusive Education is available at all schools in Panama 

Suriname Yes 1 Deaf School 

Total 12 Yes (100%) 96 


7.8.5.2 What is the educational approach for communicating with Deaf children and students at the Deaf School in your 

country? 

Country 

Bilingual 

Education 

1 

Oral 

Method 

2 

Cued 

Speech 

3 

Oral and Sign 

Language (Total 

Communication) 

4 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 

Dominican Republic 

El Salvador 

Guatemala 

Guyana 

Haiti 

Auditory 

5 Other Explanation 

Verbal 

Mixture of Guyanese and 

American Sign Languages 

Honduras Spanish written language 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

Panama 

Suriname 

1 Bilingual Education: Sign language is considered to be the natural language (‘mother tongue’) that will be acquired as a first 

language. Spoken language, which is not acquired naturally by Deaf children, will be learned as a second language as the child 

becomes cognitively/developmentally ready. Both languages are used throughout the child’s entire education. 

2 Oral Education: Spoken language is assumed to be the basis for standard social and academic communication, and the human 

system is assumed to be designed (pre-wired) to learn language expressed in speech. Children learn about and from spoken 

language. Also known as auditory-oral, aural/oral education. Emphasis on speech. 

3 Cued Speech: A visual mode of communication that uses hand shapes and placements in combination with the mouth 

movements of speech to make the phonemes of a spoken language look different from each other, resulting in a visual 

counterpart of a spoken language. 

4 Total Communication: All forms and modes of communications are used. This includes natural gestures, sign language, 

manually-coded spoken languages, sign systems, mime, audition and speech. 

5 Auditory Verbal Education: Supposes that even minimal amounts of residual hearing can lead to the development of 

spontaneous speech and language, if that residual hearing is stimulated. Children learn to process language through amplified 

hearing. A method of oral education with an emphasis on listening. 




7.8.6 What is the general opinion of the level of education received by Deaf children and Deaf students in your country? 

7.8.7 What is the general opinion of the current literacy level of Deaf children and Deaf students in your country? 

Country 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 


El Salvador 

What is the general opinion of the level of 

education received by Deaf children and Deaf 

students in your country? 

We are not able to provide a general opinion of 

Deaf Education in Costa Rica, as it is necessary 

to do a review of Deaf Education. 

We are constantly refining our analysis and find 

the most difficulties are in learning Spanish. In 

general there are good reviews. 

We need to establish Bilingual Education for 

Deaf Children. 

The general opinion is that schools provide 

education in sign language yet problems with 

literacy skills continue. 

Guatemala 

Deaf Education is of a very low standard – the 

curriculum is not the same as in education for 

hearing children. 

Low level 

Guyana Not good enough. More could be done. Poor 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

A large majority of people say that Deaf people 

should not attend school and that sign language 

is not a language. 

Not satisfactory because there is no official 

programme for Deaf Education. We do have 

Inclusive Education but it is not of a very high 

standard. 

The status of Bilingualism for Deaf children is 

very acceptable; however it is still in the early 

stages. 

It is still limited. Our Association continues to 

work toward making sign language available in 

the Deaf schools. 

Panama Deaf Education is very limited in Panama. 

Suriname 

Low level. The school teachers do not have 

good communication with the children. The 

children learn some but do not have a 

comprehensive understanding of the use of 

language or vocabulary. 

What is the general opinion of the current literacy 

level of Deaf children and Deaf students in your 

country? 

Poor, the teaching methodology for literacy must 

improve through the use of sign language as a 

mother tongue language. 

There are currently major difficulties but we are 

working on the methodology of acquisition of 

Spanish as a second language. 

It is necessary to have Bilingualism for Deaf people. 

Deaf Children do understand a basic sign language 

vocabulary but their literacy levels are not 

considered of a high enough standard to enable 

them entry to University. 

A large number of people think that Deaf people 

should not be taught reading and writing. This is why 

most parents of newborn Deaf children do not send 

them to school and pressure the State to assume 

responsibility for these Deaf children. 

Poor level 

It depends on the education the student received: 

those who went through the government education 

system have a very poor level of literacy while those 

who attended private schools have a high level of 

literacy. 

Literacy levels are gradually improving especially for 

those children who use sign language. 

No one has literacy skills because the school 

teachers are not comprehensively skilled in literacy 

programmes for Deaf students. 

Low level 




7.8.8 Do Deaf people have access to a University education in your country? 

7.8.8.1 If yes, how many Universities provide access to studies for Deaf people in your country? 

7.8.8.2 If no, why do Deaf people not have access to a university education in your country? 

Country 


have access to a 

University 

education in your 

country? 


Cuba Yes All 



If yes, how many Universities provide 

access to studies for Deaf people in your 

country? 

4 State Universities and a small number of 

private universities 

1 State University 

4 Private Universities 

Guatemala Yes Any University in Guatemala 

If no, why do Deaf people not 

have access to a university 

education in your country? 

Because the university does not 

provide sign language interpreting 

services. 

Guyana No Resources were never provided. 


Honduras Yes 

1 State University 

4 Private Universities 

Mexico Yes 4 Private Universities 

Nicaragua Yes 

Deaf students can enter any university in 

Nicaragua 

Panama Yes 6 Universities 

The Deaf people with the highest 

level of education have completed 

their traditional study only at the 

9th grade level. 

Suriname Yes We do not have any information. 



7.8.9 Do Deaf people have full access to sign language interpreting services at University? 

Country Do Deaf people have full access to sign language interpreting services at University? 

Costa Rica Yes (4 Universities) 

Cuba Yes 


El Salvador Yes (1 University) 

Guatemala Yes (1 University) 



Honduras Yes (1 University) 










7.9.0 Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services 

7.9.1 Does your country have any sign language interpreters? 

7.9.1.1 How many sign language interpreters does your country have? 

7.9.1.2 Are there any sign language interpreting qualifications available in your country? 

Country 

Does your country have 

any sign language 

interpreters? 

How many sign language 

interpreters does your country 

have? 

Are there any sign language 

interpreting qualifications 


Costa Rica Yes 9 Interpreters Yes 

Cuba Yes 434 Interpreters Yes 

Dominican Republic Yes 50 or more Interpreters No 

El Salvador Yes 5 Interpreters No 

Guatemala Yes Approximately 30 Interpreters Yes 

Guyana Yes 5 Interpreters No 

Haiti Yes 106 Interpreters No 

Honduras Yes 6 Interpreters Yes 

Mexico Yes 100 Interpreters Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 22 Interpreters Yes 

Panama Yes 15 Interpreters No 

Suriname Yes 2 Interpreters Yes 

Total 12 Yes (100%) 7 Yes (58%) 


7.9.1.3 Who provides the training for people who want to become qualified sign language interpreters? 

Country University 

Costa Rica 

In co-operation with the Deaf 

Association 

Community 

College 

National Association 

of the Deaf 

Cuba 

Guatemala 

Honduras 

Mexico 

In co-operation with the Deaf 

Association 

Nicaragua In co-operation with the Deaf 

Association 

Suriname 




 


Half Technical (similar 

to an American 

diploma); 

Beginners’ courses at 

ANSOC. 

Training provided by the 

Netherlands

7.9.1.4 How many years of training are available to someone who wants to become a sign language interpreter? 

Country Four Years Three Years Two Years 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 

Guatemala 

 

Diploma 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

 

Less than One 

Year 




 


5 years university; 

Beginners’ courses are a total of 6 months, 3 

months for the first level and 3 months for 

the second level 

Suriname No official training programme 

7.9.1.5 How many sign language interpreters in your country have formal interpreting qualifications? 

Country How many sign language interpreters in your country have formal interpreting qualifications? 

Costa Rica 

9 Interpreters 

Cuba 434 Interpreters 

Guatemala 15 Interpreters 

Guyana 5 Interpreters 

Haiti 

None because sign language is not recognised officially yet, and the national Ministry of Education does not 

accredit any interpreters. However CAPPA-SOURDS-HAITI has adopted a Code of Ethics for interpreters. 

Honduras 6 Interpreters 

Mexico 20 Interpreters 

Nicaragua 19 Interpreters 

Suriname 2 Interpreters 

7.9.1.6 How do Deaf people access sign language interpreters? 

Country How do Deaf people access sign language interpreters? 

Costa Rica Through text, fax and email. Also by approaching the Association of Sign Language Interpreters in Costa Rica. 

Cuba 

Through ANSOC at its different levels (municipal, province or state, also national). Also through the Ministry of 

Education. 

Guatemala Through the Deaf Association, and contacts with their family and friends. 

Guyana Upon request. 

Haiti Through the Deaf Group or Religious Groups. 

Honduras Through text, fax and email, and the Deaf Association, as well as contacts with their family and friends. 

Mexico Through the Deaf Association’s Interpreting Service via text, fax and email. 

Nicaragua Through the Deaf Association’s Interpreting Service. 

Suriname 

Deaf people do not know about sign language interpreters – for most of them it was a first to see the Dutch Sign 

Language Interpreters.

7.9.2 Does your country have sign language interpreting services? 

7.9.2.1 If yes, who provides these sign language interpreting services? 

Country 

Does your 

country 

have sign 

language 

interpreting 

services? 

If yes, who 

provides these 

sign language 

interpreting 

services? 

Government 

National 

Association 

of the Deaf 


Cuba Yes 


Private 

Sector 

El Salvador Yes 

Guatemala Yes 


Haiti Yes 

Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Yes 

Panama Yes 




7.9.2.2 In what areas of life are sign language interpreting services available in your country? 

In what areas of life are sign language interpreting services 





Costa Rica 

Cuba 

El Salvador 


Association of Sign Language Interpreters 

of Costa Rica 

Ministry of Education; 

Faculty of Physical Culture of INDER 

(National Institute of Sport, Physical 

Education and Recreation) 

Certain religious groups (Jehovah’s 

Witnesses and Baptists) 

Association of Sign Language Interpreters 

of Nicaragua 

Deaf Schools and the National Disability 

Organisation 

Social Services 

Health/Medical Services 

Employment Services 

Court Services 

Educational Services 

Counselling Services 

Financial Institutions 

Funerals/Weddings 

Entertainment 

Please note: The Regional Working Group stressed that not all interpreting services are available in rural cities in each 

country in the WFD MCAC Region. These interpreting services are available mainly in the capital cities. 

Guatemala 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

Panama

7.9.2.3 What is the general opinion of these sign language interpreting services? 

Country What is the general opinion of these sign language interpreting services? 

Costa Rica 

1) In general, the interpreters’ service is good when they are working from spoken language to sign language, 

but from sign to spoken their skills are very poor. 

2) There is a need to expand the number of interpreters to provide a good quality service. 

Cuba It is acceptable. 

El Salvador The service is satisfactory. We know we need more research into sign language for greater conceptual depth. 

Guatemala 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

Not satisfactory. Most especially the Interpreter Training Programme at the University is not acceptable to the 

Deaf Community; their signing skills are very poor. 

It is beautiful to see that Deaf people can be included/understand; for the great majority of people it is very 

mysterious and interesting to see two or several people using sign language. 

The Interpreting Service is satisfactory; however we have a very limited number of interpreters available for 

the general community. 

It is average; however in the near future, the Government will be responsible to provide sign language 

interpreting services. 

The service is satisfactory; however all interpreters need to improve their knowledge of the topics of health, 

national law, politics, government relations with people with disabilities and other areas. 

More training for new interpreters is necessary. 

Panama Provision of interpreting services for Deaf people in Panama only started about six months ago. 

Additional Information from Guyana 

The sign language interpreting service is just at the beginning level, as the service was only established three or four years 

ago. The interpreters are not skilled yet but they are learning everyday and improving their signing skills, taught by volunteer 

instructors from foreign countries, especially two Americans who are not interpreters but know and use sign language very 

well. There is a great need for two or three scholarships for hard-working volunteer interpreters to advance their studies in 

the field of interpreting abroad, which will in turn help in establishing a better interpreting service in Guyana in the future. In 

the next year or two we are thinking of teaching sign language to hearing participants who seriously want to become sign 

language interpreters. 

7.9.3 Do sign language interpreters receive payment for interpreting services in your country? 

7.9.3.1 Who is responsible for paying for a sign language interpreter? 

7.9.3.2 What is the average hourly rate of payment for sign language interpreters in your country? 

Country 

Do sign 

language 

interpreters 

receive 

payment for 

interpreting 

services in 

your 

country? 

Who is 

responsible 

for paying 

for a sign 

language 

interpreter? 

Government 

National 

Association 

of the 

Deaf/Deaf 

Group 


People 


Cuba Yes 


Others 

State universities 

and television 

stations 

Ministry of 

Education, INDER 

(National Institute 

of Sport, Physical 

Education and 

Recreation) 

What is the average 

hourly rate of 

payment for sign 

language interpreters 


Between USD3.00 - 

USD6.00 per hour 

(4.07€ - 8.14€ on 29 th 

February 2008) 

The basic monthly 

wage is USD355 

(253.47€ on 29 th 





El Salvador Yes 

Guatemala Yes 

Guyana Sometimes 

University and 

Non-Governmental 

Organisations 

University 

Haiti Yes 

Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 


Panama Yes 




The organisers of 

the event where it 

is required 

University, Non- 

Governmental 

Organisations and 

private companies 

Association of Sign 

Language 

Interpreters of 

Nicaragua 

• National 

Association of the 

Deaf pays USD2.00 

per hour (1.32€ on 

29 th February 

2008). 

• University pays 

USD400 per 

month. (264.45€ 

on 29 th February 

2008) 

• National 

Association also 

has a translation 

service from sign 

language to 

written Spanish; 

translators are 

paid USD1.00 per 

page. (0.66€ on 

29 th February 2008 

Approximately 75 – 150 

Quetzals per hour 

(6.54€ -13.07€ on 29 th 


1,000 Guyana (3.35€ 

on 29 th February 2008) 

2.500 Haitian Gourde 

for two hours 

(sometimes) (45.17€ 

on 29 th February 2008) 

L. 100.00 (One 

hundred Lempira) per 

hour (3,51€ on 29 th 


The average is $200 - 

$350 (Mexican Pesos) 

per hour (12.37€ - 

21.64€ on 29 th 


The organisation pays 


(3.30€ on 29th 


Association of Sign 

Language Interpreters 

of Panama charges 


(16.53€ on 29th 


This Association does 

not have any desire to 

liaise with the 

Association of the Deaf 

of Panama. 




7.9.3.3 Do your sign language interpreters provide voluntary service for all sign language interpreting 

assignments? 

Country 

Costa Rica 

Do your sign language interpreters provide voluntary service for all sign language interpreting 

assignments? 



El Salvador Sometimes 

Guatemala Sometimes 

Guyana Sometimes 

Haiti Sometimes 

Honduras Sometimes 

Mexico Yes 

Nicaragua Sometimes 

Panama Sometimes 

Suriname Yes 





Yes 


7.9.4 Does your country have a National Association of Sign Language Interpreters? 

7.9.4.1 Is your National Association of Sign Language Interpreters independent from your National Association of the 


7.9.5 Is there a national Code of Ethics for sign language interpreters in your country? 

Country 

Does your country have a 

National Association of Sign 

Language Interpreters? 

Is your National Association of 


independent from your National 

Association of the Deaf? 

Is there a national Code of 

Ethics for sign language 

interpreters in your country? 

Costa Rica Yes Yes Yes 

Cuba No No Yes 

Dominican Republic No No No 

El Salvador No No No 

Guatemala No No No 

Guyana No No No 

Haiti Yes Yes Yes 

Honduras No No Yes 

Mexico Yes Yes Yes 

Nicaragua Yes Yes Yes 

Panama Yes Yes No 

Suriname No No Yes 

Total 5 Yes (42%) 5 Yes (42%) 7 Yes (58%) 


7.9.6 Is there any legislation or policy in your country which states that the government has a responsibility for the 

provision of sign language interpreting services? 

7.9.6.1 If yes, please list the legislation or policies that specifically state the government has a responsibility for the 

provision of sign language interpreting services. 

Country 

Is there any legislation or 

policy in your country which 

states that the government 

has a responsibility for the 

provision of sign language 

interpreting services? 





Guatemala Yes 



If yes, please list the legislation or policies that specifically state 

the government has a responsibility for the provision of sign 

language interpreting services. 

Article 51, Law No 7600 – Equal Opportunity for People with 

Disabilities 

Law – Equal Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities 

Law – Inclusive Education 

Honduras Yes 

Law No 160 (2005) - Equality and Full Development of People with 

Disabilities 

Mexico Yes General Law for People with Disabilities (2005) 


Panama Yes Law – Equal Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities 







7.10.0 Employment 

7.10.1 Does your country’s government consider that Deaf people have a right to be employed and earn a standard 

salary? 

7.10.2 Does your country’s government have any anti-discrimination laws in the area of employment, especially for 

Deaf people or People with Disabilities? 

7.10.2.1 If yes, please write clearly the name of any legislation or policy that relates to anti-discrimination in 

employment. 

Country 

Does your 

country’s 

government 

consider that 

Deaf people 

have a right to 

be employed 

and earn a 

standard 

salary? 

Does your 

country’s 

government have 

any antidiscrimination 

laws in the area of 

employment, 

especially for Deaf 

people or People 

with Disabilities? 

If yes, please write clearly the name of any legislation or 

policy that relates to anti-discrimination in employment. 

Costa Rica Yes Yes Law 7600 – Employment Section 

• Resolution No. 9.3.2. 22/04 of the Ministry of Labour and 

Social Security (MTSS) Employment Programme for People 

with Disabilities (PROEMDIS) 

Cuba Yes Yes 

• 

• 

Oct / 07 Resolution No. 4 / 96 of MTSS, Agreement. 

4048 of the executive committee of the council of 

ministers in 2001, 

• Agreement. 5790 of the executive committee of the 

council of ministers 17/oct/2006. 

Dominican Republic Yes Yes 

El Salvador Yes No 

Guatemala Yes Yes No information supplied 

Guyana Yes No 

Haiti Yes No 

Policy of Labour Integration, which has the fundamental 

purpose of inclusion of people with disabilities in the general 

workforce 

Honduras Yes Yes 

Law No 160 (2005) - Equality and Full Development of People 

with Disabilities 

Mexico Yes Yes No information supplied 

Nicaragua Yes No 

Panama Yes Yes No information supplied 

Suriname No No 

Total 11 Yes (92%) 7 Yes (58%) 


7.10.3 Does your Association/Group have any official or approximate figures on the number of Deaf people who are in 

paid employment in your country? 

7.10.3.1 If yes, how many Deaf people are in employment? 

Does your 


have any official or 

approximate figures 

Country 

on the number of 

Deaf people who are 

in paid employment 



Total Number of Deaf 

people employed 

Number of Deaf Women 

employed 

Number of Deaf Men 

employed 

Cuba Yes 7,528 2,655 4,863 












Panama Yes 5,000 3,000 2,000 




7.10.3.2 What are the most common areas of work for Deaf people in your country? 

What are the most common areas of work for Deaf people in 

your country? 

Office Administration 

 

Management 

Education 

Theatre/Arts 

Research Projects 

Sign Language 

Social Services 

Farm Work 

Financial Industry 

Engineering 

Welding 

Carpentry 

Jeweller 

Tailoring 

Building 

Painter 

Cleaning 

Car Mechanic 

Panel Beater 

Shoe Repairing 

Bakery 

Hairdresser 

Printer 

Catering 

Others 




Costa Rica 

Cuba 

El Salvador 

Guatemala 

Guyana 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

Panama

Country Others 

Costa Rica Computer Systems Service 

Cuba 

Medical Professional, Lawyer, Author, Health Professional, Technical Professional and Member of the Ministry of 

the Interior 

El Salvador Dental Technician 

Guatemala Duty-free Factory Industry and Deaf Peddlers (ABC Cards and other deafness-related items) 

Guyana 

Grass Cutter, Bartender, Housemaid/Housecleaning, Seamstress. Mainly unskilled labour that requires a minimum 

of verbal communication. 

Honduras Computer Systems Service and Duty-free Factory Industry 

Haiti Car Cleaning/Shoe Cleaning/Dock Workers/Beggars 

Mexico Administration and Computer System Services 

7.10.4 Does your country have any figures on the percentage of Deaf people who are unemployed? 

7.10.4.1 Why are Deaf people unemployed in your country? 

Country 

Does your country have any figures on the 

percentage of Deaf people who are 

unemployed? 

Costa Rica No No information provided 

Cuba No No information provided 

Dominican Republic No No information provided 






Mexico No No information provided 



Why are Deaf people unemployed in your country? 

Because equal opportunity law is not implemented in 

our country. 

Because Deaf people are not literate, and need more 

professional training. 

Low level of education and communication 

difficulties. 

Deaf people are a minority and have a very limited 

level of education; and there is no equal opportunity 

policy. 

Deaf people are illiterate and do not get employment 

workshops and training; and companies do not want to 

hire unskilled people. 

Because of the low level of education of Deaf people. 

It is difficult for hearing people to meet the 

prerequisites needed to access jobs; for Deaf people it 

is even more difficult. 

Suriname No No information provided 



We do not have an equal employment law, and 

Congress does not accept Deaf workers. Deaf people 

are not included in training and workshops because 

they are disabled. 




7.10.5 Does your country provide employment services to assist unemployed Deaf people to look for 

employment? 

7.10.5.1 Who is responsible for providing employment services for unemployed Deaf people in your 

country? 

Country 

Does your 

country 

provide 

employment 

services to 

assist 

unemployed 

Deaf people to 

look for 

employment? 

Who is 

responsible for 

providing 

employment 

services for 

unemployed 

Deaf people in 

your country? 

Government 

Employment 

Service 

National 

Association of the 

Deaf/Deaf Group 


Cuba Yes 



Guatemala Yes 



Honduras Yes 

Mexico Yes 






Other, please write down: 

Social Worker from the Deaf School assists 

Deaf students to find employment. 

Social Worker from the Deaf School assists 

Deaf students to find employment. 

A Non-Governmental Organisation 

provides an employment service to assist 

Deaf people. 

Both co-operate to implement 

programmes that support the labour 

needs of Deaf people. 

A government office, in the Ministry of 

Labour, attends to these needs as they do 

for all people in the country. 




7.11.0 General 

7.11.1 Which of the following does your National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group consider to be the highest priority 

for your Deaf Community? 

Which of the following does your National 

Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group consider 

to be the highest priority for your Deaf 

Community? 

Costa Rica 

Cuba 


Better quality of Deaf Education 

Equal Opportunity in Employment 

Better Sign Language Interpreting quality and 

services 

Recognition of your country’s Sign Language(s) 

by your country’s Government 

Improved quality and access to Government 

and Community Services 

Other 

Costa Rica 

Country Other 




El Salvador 

• Attention to Human Rights for the Deaf Community 

• Provision of information to the Deaf Community 

• Increasing Deaf Awareness 

Dominican Republic Leadership Training Programme 

Panama Counselling Service for parents and families 

7.11.2 Does your Association/Group have any other concerns about the standard of living of Deaf people in your 

country? Please list them. 

Country 

Costa Rica 


El Salvador 

Guatemala 

Haiti 

Does your Association/Group have any other concerns about the standard of living of Deaf people 

in your country? Please list them. 

1. Need more workshops about Deaf leadership 

2. Need to provide camps for Deaf children and youth 

3. Deaf Associations do not receive funding from the government or international aid organisations, 

for example, for co-operative development, sports activities or workshops to support the quality 

of life of Deaf people 

We need more attention from the government for Education, Work, Health and Security, Social 

Security, Economic Support, Communication with the general community. 

1. Teachers must all have professional qualifications to teach 

2. All sign language teachers who works must be a Deaf person, not a hearing person because they 

don’t know sign language to teach sign language classes 

3. The government must accept A.S.S. as a legal association must know about our organisation and 

have contact with us 

4. Also we are concerned because many foundations are established and say they help Deaf people 

but they don’t. We feel these foundations create divisions in the Deaf community and exploit us 

for money 

1. Need to have the best quality education from an early age. No more communication barriers and 

discrimination 

2. Improve the quality of access to the government, and services to the community 

1. Better quality of education for Deaf people 

2. Equal opportunity in employment 

3. Better service from and quality of sign language interpreters 

4. Recognition of our national sign language by the government 

5. Improved quality of and access to government and community services 

6. That our organisation (C.A.P.P.A - Deaf persons - Haiti) becomes a member of: 

a) World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) 

b) International Federation of Hard of Hearing People (IFHOH) 

c) World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI) 

d) Swedish Organisations of Disabled Persons International Aid Association (Shia) 

e) European Federation of Associations of Parents of Deaf Children (FEPEDA) 

f) Handicapped International (HI) 

g) All other organisations for Deaf persons in the world 

Guatemala 

Guyana 

Haiti 

Honduras 

Mexico 

Nicaragua 

Panama 

Suriname

Honduras 

Mexico 

Panama 

7. That our organisation (C.A.P.P.A - Deaf persons - Haiti) receives from all clubs, associations, 

groups, NGOs, WFD and other organisations for Deaf people around the world: 

a) Training in the assumption of responsibility for Deaf people and the Deaf community 

b) Materials, documents, books and DVDs about sign language 

c) Subsidies and financial support for activities for Deaf people, and for the operation of the 

Centre of Assistance for People with Hearing Problems 

8. Partnerships with international organisations of/for Deaf persons around the world with the goal 

of training and improvement in sign language for our trainers and interpreters 

9. Creation of a law for access to higher education for Deaf people including: 

a) Exemption from payment of the registration fee for the first time (single) 

b) Reservation of 8% of places for handicapped people at University including 2% for Deaf people 

10. That young Deaf students receive support at University through an interpreter in International 

Sign: 

a) Effective legislation to support this 

b) Personalised and specialised quality services 

c) Materials and techniques 

d) Teacher training 

e) Follow-up and evaluation 

11. Whether financed by the Haitian State or by local government agencies, each district (41) should 

have at least one school and at least one centre for the elimination of illiteracy for Deaf people 

in all 10 departments of the country 

12. Official languages of the Republic of Haiti should be Creole, French and sign language 

(trilinguism): 

a) Sign language should be learned at school as a 2nd or 3rd language 

b) Teachers are not obliged to have perfect knowledge of sign language but should be able to 

apply it in ordinary teaching 

13. Intelligence services and direct contact with each individual, Deaf or not: 

a) Technical equipment and didactic material, such as a printing voice synthesizer for Deaf 

persons 

b) To give access to an Internet website especially designed for Deaf people 

14. To have material for the creation of a centre for visual and audio documentation about: 

a) Deafness 

b) The world of the Deaf Community 

1. Better Quality of Life 

2. Respect for Human Rights of Deaf People 

3. Salary equal to that of hearing workers 

It is a grave concern that Deaf people are not able to attend University because they do not provide 

an interpreting service. The level of education is very poor and several Deaf people have found it very 

difficult to obtain a good job. 

No division in the Deaf community - one Deaf Association. A new building and better quality of 

education. 




8.0 Appendices Appendix No 1 

Global Education Pre‐Planning Project on the 

Human Rights of Deaf People 

Email: DeafHumanRights@yahoo.com.au 

14 December 2007 

President and Secretary of all WFD member organisations in Regional Secretariat for Mexico, Central America and Caribbean 

(WFD MCAC) 

Dear President and Secretary, 

I wish to introduce the new project “Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People” 

implemented by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) in co-operation with the Swedish National Association of the Deaf 

(SDR). This project is preparation for a Global project “Deaf Global Human Rights Training Project” to commence hopefully 

in 2009. An application will be submitted in 2008 to Swedish funding bodies. 

The purpose of the pre-planning project is to conduct a global survey to collect information on the standard of life for Deaf 

people in each of the seven WFD Regional Secretariats. The survey will collect the following information: 

1. Contact Details, 

2. Status of the National Deaf Association, 

3. Population of Deaf people, 

4. Legislations and Policies, 

5. Access to Government Services, 

6. Access to the Media, 

7. Status of the Country Sign Language, 

8. Access to Education, 

9. Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services, 

10. Employment and 

11. General. 

Your Association is a member of the WFD - Regional Secretariat for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (WFD MCAC) 

and WFD MCAC is the fourth region to be surveyed in this project. 

It will be appreciated if you take time to complete this survey as soon as possible to enable us to prepare the draft Fact- 

Finding Report. The Project will establish a temporary Regional Working Group consisting of two or three members from the 

ordinary members of WFD MCAC and the Regional Working Group, which will meet in March/April 2008 to discuss the draft 

Fact-Finding Report. The Regional Working Group is responsible for confirming the recommendations from the Fact-Finding 

Report to be used in the application for the “Deaf Global Human Rights Training Project”. 

The project has appointed a Regional Co-ordinator Mr Allan Fernández from San Jose, Costa Rica and his responsibility is to 

establish a contact point with all members of the WFD MCAC for this project. If you have any questions about the survey, 

please do not hesitate to contact Mr Allan Fernández by email at allanfern@yahoo.com 

Please find a survey form attached as well as a DVD version in International Sign, based on the survey questions. Please be 

aware that it is essential to answer all of the survey questions correctly to provide a true reflection of the actual standard of 

living of Deaf people in your country. 

Please return your survey questions to: 

Mr. Allan Fernández 

P.O. Box 680-2010 

San Jose 

Costa Rica 

Email: allanfern@yahoo.com 

It will be appreciated if Mr Allan Fernández can receive your survey by no later than Friday, 8th February, 2008. 

Thank you for contributing towards the first step in this important international project. 

Yours sincerely, 

Colin Allen 


The World Federation of the Deaf and the Swedish National Association of the Deaf 

Email: DeafHumanRights@yahoo.com 




Appendix No 2 

World Federation of the Deaf 

Global Education Pre‐Planning Project 

on the Human Rights of Deaf People 

Email: DeafHumanRights@yahoo.com.au 

A GLOBAL 

SURVEY 

Global Education 

Pre-planning Project 

on the Human Rights 

of the Deaf People 

WFD – MCAC December 2007 

The Project is under the auspices of the Swedish National Association of the Deaf (SDR) and the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Page No 83 



1.0 Contact Details 

1.1 Country: _____________________________________________________________________________ 

1.2 Name of the National Association of the Deaf: __________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

1.3 Street Address: 

Street Address: _____________________________________________________________________________ 

Street Address: _____________________________________________________________________________ 

City: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Post code / Zip Code: ______________________________________________________________________ 

Country: _____________________________________________________________________________ 

1.4 Postal Address: 

Postal Number: _____________________________________________________________________________ 

City: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Post code / Zip Code: ______________________________________________________________________ 

Country: _____________________________________________________________________________ 

Website Address: ______________________________________________________________________ 

Email Address: _____________________________________________________________________________ 

1.5 Telephone Numbers: 

Landline Number: _________________________________________________________ 

Mobile Number: _________________________________________________________ 

Facsimile Number: _________________________________________________________ 

Project Data Use Only 

Country Reference No: .............................................................................. 

Received Date: ...................................................................................... 

Data Entered: ........................................................................................ 

Country Classifications: 

□ Low Income □ Lower Middle Income 

□ Upper Middle Income □ High Income 




2.0 National Association of the Deaf 

2.1 Please provide the official name of your National Association of the Deaf in both English and in your 

language: 

2.1.1 English: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 

2.1.2 In your national language: ____________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

2.2 Please provide the number of members your National Association of the Deaf has in your country? 

2.2.1 Deaf Members: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.2.1.1 Deaf Women: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.2.1.2 Deaf Men: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.2.2 Hard of Hearing Members: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.2.2.1 Hard of Hearing Women: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.2.2.2 Hard of Hearing Men: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.2.3 Hearing Members: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.3 In what year was your National Association established? 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

2.4 Does your Deaf Association have Statutes/a Constitution? 

□ Yes, please go to Question No 2.5 

□ No, please go to Question No 2.5 

2.5 Does your government recognise your national organisation to represent Deaf people in your country? 






2.6 Please list some the areas in which your association has adopted a policy statement? 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________________ 

2.7 Please list the six highest priority issues/actions in your strategic action plan 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

2.8 Please describe structure of your National Association of the Deaf (e.g. congress/annual meeting/ 

board/ executive/districts/local associations etc)? 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 




2.8.1 How many affiliated regional and/or local Deaf Associations is part of your National Association of the 


2.8.1.1 Number of Regional associations: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.8.1.2 Number of Local associations: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.9 How many members of your members are Deaf? 

[___________________] of [___________________] 

(Deaf Board Members) (Total of Board Members) 

2.10 How many members of the board are Deaf women and how many are Deaf men? 

2.10.1 Deaf women: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.10.2 Deaf men: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.11 Does your National Association of the Deaf have committees for specific area of interest or affiliation 

with any other relevant independent groups in your country? 

□ Sign Language Interpreters □ Sign Language Researchers □ Deaf Education 

□ Parents of Deaf Children □ Deaf Seniors □ Deafblind 

□ Deaf Youth □ Cultural groups of Deaf people □ Sports groups 

□ Deaf people with other disabilities □ Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual 

□ Deaf Women’s Groups □ Children of Deaf Adults 

□ Other, please write down: 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

2.12 Does your National Association of the Deaf have any paid staff members? 

□ Yes, please go to Question No 2.12.1 





2.12.1 How many of the paid staff members are women and who many are men? 

2.12.1.1 Women: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.12.1.2 Men: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 

2.12.2 How many of the paid staff members are Deaf? 



2.13 Is your Chief Executive Officer / Executive Director / Person-in-charge Deaf? 



3.0 Population of Deaf people 

3.1 Does your country’s government have any official records on the number of Deaf people in your 

country? 



3.1.1 If yes, please provide the official number of Deaf people in your country? 

3.1.1.1 Total: - [___________________] please write the number in this box 



3.2 Does your Association have any official or approximate figures on the number of Deaf people living in 

your country? 



3.2.1 If yes, please provide the number of Deaf people in your country 







3.3 Does your Association have any official or approximate figures on the Deaf people who use sign 

language as their primary language? 



3.3.1 If yes, please provide the number of Deaf people who use sign language in your country 




3.4. Does the situation of HIV/AIDS in your country affect Deaf women, men and children? 



□ No information available, please go to Question 4.1 

3.4.1 If yes, please describe the situation with HIV/AIDS in the Deaf community in your country including 

any official statistics on the number of Deaf people living with HIV/AIDS. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 




4.0 Legislations and Policies 

4.1 Does your country’s government recognise Deaf people as citizens on an equal basis as other citizens 




4.2 Does your country’s government have an office responsible for services for People with Disabilities? 



4.2.1 If yes, what is the name, address, and website address of the government office that is responsible 

for services for People with Disabilities in your country? 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

4.3 Does your country’s Government have any legislation or policies for Deaf people (or People with 

Disabilities in general)? 



4.3.1 If yes, please list some of the policies or legislation that relates to Deaf people (or People with 

Disabilities), (please write the name of the legislations or policies in full detail): 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

4.4 Does your country’s Government have any anti-discrimination laws for Deaf people (or People with 

Disabilities)? 



4.5 Does your country’s government provide any services specifically for the Deaf Community through its 

government departments? 


□ No, please go to Question No 4.5.3 




4.5.1 If yes, what types of service are provided specifically for the Deaf Community by your country’s 

government? 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

4.5.2 What is the general opinion of the current service(s) specifically provided for the Deaf Community by 

your country’s government? 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

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Please go to Question No 4.6 

4.5.3 If no, why does your country’s government not provide any service specifically for the Deaf 

Community? 

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4.6 Does your Association have any contacts with your current country’s government? 



4.6.1 What type of contact does your Association have with your country’s current government? 

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4.7 Does your Association receive any financial support from your country’s current government? 



4.7.1 What is the amount of annual financial support from your country’s government? 

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4.7.2 What is the purpose of the financial support from your country’s government to the Deaf Community? 

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4.8 Do Deaf people have a right to vote in national, regional and local elections? 



4.8.1 If Deaf people do not have the right to vote, please list the government legislation or policies that 

specifically exclude Deaf people from having the right to vote: 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

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4.9 Are Deaf people allowed to obtain a driver’s licence? 






4.9.1 If Deaf people are not allowed to drive, please list the Government legislation or policies that stop 

them from being allowed to drive: 

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___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

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4.10 Are Deaf people allowed to marry Deaf or other partners? 



4.10.1 If Deaf people are not allowed to get married, please list any specific Government legislation or 

policy that specifically stops Deaf people from being allowed to marry (or to be allowed to marry 

another deaf person): 

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___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

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4.11 Are Deaf people allowed to have children? 



4.11.1 If Deaf people are not allowed to have children, please list any specific Government legislation or 

policy that stops Deaf people from being allowed to have children. 

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4.12 Are Deaf people allowed to adopt children? 



4.12.1 If Deaf people are not allowed to adopt children, please list any specific Government legislation or 

policy that stops Deaf people from being allowed to adopt children. 

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5.1 Do Deaf people have access to government services such as education, health care, employment, 

social welfare and any general government services? 



5.1.1 If yes, how do Deaf people access these government services? 

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5.1.2 Are Deaf people satisfied with the level of access they have to the government services? 

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5.2 Are Deaf people entitled to any financial assistance from your country’s government? 



5.2.1 What type of financial assistance are Deaf people entitled to receive from your country’s 

government? 

□ Disability allowance □ General Pension □ Disability-specific Pension 


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6.1 Does your country’s government provide sign language services for news and/or current affairs 

programmes on public television? 



6.1.1 Please provide detailed information on how many hours or days per week Deaf people receive sign 

language services for news and/or current affairs programmes on public television. 

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6.2 Does your country’s government provide subtitles / captions for news and/or current affairs 

programmes? 



6.2.1 Please provide detailed information on how many hours / days per week are news / current affairs 

programmes (subtitled / captioned) offered for Deaf people? 

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6.3 Does your country’s government offer governmental documents in your country’s sign language? 






7.0 Status of the Country Sign Language 

7.1 Does your country’s government formally recognise your country’s sign language(s)? 



7.1.1 What legislation/regulation formally recognises your country’s sign language? 

□ Constitution □ Legislation □ Policy □ Guideline 


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7.1.2 When did your country’s government formally recognise your country’s sign language? 

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7.1.3 Does your Deaf Association lobby your government for the recognition of your country’s sign 

language(s)? 



7.1.4 If no, please explain the reason your Association does not lobby your current government for the 

recognition of your country’s Sign Language. 

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7.2 Does your country have a sign language dictionary? 







8.1 Does your country’s government recognise that Deaf children and Deaf students have the right to 

receive an education? 



8.2 Does your country’s government have any legislation or policies on Deaf Education? 



8.2.1 If yes, please list the specific name of the legislation or policies relating to Deaf Education: 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

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8.2.2 If no, are all Deaf children and Deaf students entitled to receive any education in your country? 



8.3 Does your country’s government provide any of the following educational settings for Deaf children 

and Deaf students? 

Early intervention (Up to 5 years old) □ Yes □ No 

Kindergarten (Between 3/4 years old to 5/6 years old) □ Yes □ No 

Primary (From 5/6 years to 12/13 years old) □ Yes □ No 

Secondary (From 12/13 years to 17/18 years old) □ Yes □ No 

University (After 18 years old) □ Yes □ No 

Vocational Education / Training □ Yes □ No 

8.4 Does your country’s government provide bilingual education using your country’s sign language for 

Deaf children and Deaf students in your country? 






8.4.1 If yes, in which educational setting is bilingual education offered in your country using your sign 

language? 

Early intervention (Up to 5 years old) □ Yes □ No 

Kindergarten (Between 3/4 years old to 5/6 years old) □ Yes □ No 

Primary (From 5/6 years to 12/13 years old) □ Yes □ No 

Secondary (From 12/13 years to 17/18 years old) □ Yes □ No 

University (After 18 years old) □ Yes □ No 

Vocational Education / Training □ Yes □ No 

8.5 Does your country have any schools specifically for Deaf children and Deaf students? 



8.5.1 If yes, how many Deaf schools does your country have? 

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8.5.2 What is the educational approach for communicating with Deaf children and students at the Deaf 

School in your country? 

□ Bilingual Education □ Oral Method □ Cued Speech 

□ Oral and Sign Language (Total Communication) □ Auditory Verbal 


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8.5.3 If no, where do Deaf children and students receive an education in your country? 

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8.6 What is the general opinion of the level of education received by Deaf children and Deaf students in 

your country? 

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8.7 What is the general opinion of the current literacy level of Deaf children and Deaf students in your 

country? 

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8.8 Do Deaf people have access to a University education in your country? 



8.8.1 If yes, how many Universities provide access to studies for Deaf people in your country? 

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8.8.2 If no, why do Deaf people not have access to a university education in your country? 

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8.9 Do Deaf people have full access to sign language interpreting services at University? 



9.0 Status of the Sign Language Interpreting Service 

9.1 Does your country have any sign language interpreters? 



9.1.1 How many sign language interpreters does your country have? 

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9.1.2 Are there any sign language interpreting qualifications available in your country? 



9.1.3 Who provides the training for people who want to become qualified sign language interpreters? 

□ University □ Community College □ National Association of the Deaf 


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9.1.4 How many years of training are available to someone who wants to become a sign language 

interpreter? 

□ Four Years □ Three Years □ Two Years □ Less than One Year 


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9.1.5 How many sign language interpreters in your country have formal interpreting qualifications? 

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9.1.6 How do Deaf people access sign language interpreters? 

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9.2 Does your country have sign language interpreting services? 



9.2.1 If yes, who provides these sign language interpreting services? 

□ Government □ National Association of the Deaf □ Private Sector 


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9.2.2 What areas of life are sign language interpreting services available in your country? 

□ Social Services □ Health/Medical Services □ Employment Services 

□ Court Services □ Educational Services □ Counselling Services 

□ Financial Institutions □ Funerals / Weddings □ Entertainments 


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9.2.3 What is the general opinion of these sign language interpreting services? 

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9.3 Do sign language interpreters receive payment for interpreting services in your country? 



9.3.1 Who is responsible for paying for a sign language interpreter? 

□ Government □ National Association of the Deaf □ Deaf people 


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9.3.2 What the average hourly rate of payment for Sign Language Interpreters in your country? 

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9.3.3 Do your sign language interpreters provide voluntary service for all sign language interpreting 

assignments? 



□ Sometimes, please go to Question No 9.4 

9.4 Does your country have a National Association of Sign Language Interpreters? 






9.4.1 Is your National Association of the Sign Language Interpreters independent from your National 

Association of the Deaf? 



9.5 Is there a national Code of Ethics for sign language interpreters in your country? 



9.6 Is there any legislation or policy in your country which states that the government has a 

responsibility for the provision of sign language interpreting services? 



9.6.1 If yes, please list the legislation or policies that specifically state the Government has a responsibility 

for the provision of sign language interpreting services. 

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10.1 Does your country government consider Deaf people to have a right to be employed and earn a 

standard salary? 



10.2 Does your country’s government have any anti-discrimination laws in the area of employment, 

especially for Deaf people or People with Disabilities? 






10.2.1 If yes, please write clearly the name of any legislation or policies that relate to anti-discrimination in 

employment: 

___________________________________________________________________________________________ 

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10.3 Does your Association have any official or approximate figures on the number of Deaf people who are 

in paid employment in your country? 



10.3.1 If yes, how many Deaf people are in employment? 




10.3.2 What are the most common areas of work for Deaf people in your country? 

□ Office Administration □ Management □ Education □ Theatre /Arts 

□ Research Projects □ Sign Language □ Social Services □ Farm work 

□ Financial Industry □ Engineering □ Welding □ Carpentry 

□ Jeweller □ Tailoring □ Building □ Painter 

□ Cleaning □ Car Mechanic □ Panel Beater □ Shoe Repairing 

□ Bakery □ Hairdresser □ Printer □ Catering 


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10.4 Does your country any figures on the percentage of Deaf people who are unemployed? 



10.4.1 If yes, what percentage of Deaf people are unemployed in your country? If possible, give percentage 

of unemployed Deaf women and Deaf men. 

10.4.1.1 Total: - [___________________] please write the percentage in this box 

10.4.1.2 Deaf Women: - [___________________] please write the percentage in this box 

10.4.1.3 Deaf Men: - [___________________] please write the percentage in this box 

10.4.2 Why are Deaf people unemployed in your country? 

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10.5 Does your country provide employment service to assist unemployed Deaf people to look for 

employment? 



10.5.1 Who is responsible for providing employment service for unemployed Deaf people in your country? 

□ Government Employment Service □ National Association of the Deaf 


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11.0 General 

11.1 Which of the following does your National Association of the Deaf consider to be the highest priority 

for your Deaf Community? 

□ Better quality of Deaf Education 

□ Equal Opportunity in Employment 

□ Better Sign Language Interpreting quality and services 

□ Recognition of your country’s Sign Language by your country’s Government 

□ Improved quality and access to Government and Community Services 


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11.2 Does your Association have any other concerns about the standard of living of Deaf people in your 

country? Please list those: 

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Thank you for taking the time 

to complete this Survey

Page No 1 - World Federation of the Deaf

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