Page No 1 - World Federation of the Deaf

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
4.4 Access to Government Services
Based on 12 respondents
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,
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 17
and funded by the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Sida) and Swedish Organisations’ of Disabled Persons
International Aid Association (Shia).