Deputy Minister of Disability Affairs under the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, Alexia Manombe-Ncube, on Wednesday officially launched the celebrations of the 2022 International Sign Language Day in Windhoek.
Manombe-Ncube launched this year’s event at Parliament, saying the celebrations will take place under the theme ‘Sign Language Unites Us’.
She said that even though September each year is marked as the international deaf awareness month (from 19 to 23 September), this year’s sign language day celebrations will take place on Friday in the capital.
“Therefore, I would like to urge our community members to continue educating themselves in sign language communication in order for them to communicate effectively and correctly with the deaf nation, even at an early stage,” she said.
Manombe-Ncube further stated that using sign language is so unique, as it signifies a rich linguist identity in a society where the spoken language is normally dominant.
In Namibia alone, about 27 000 people are deaf, therefore, any failure to communicate in sign language would mean depriving them of access to information, she said.
Manombe-Ncube then congratulated the Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol), which started offering a two-year diploma in sign language interpretations this year.
She also urged government ministries to start allowing its officials to enrol with Namcol in sign language interpretations so that they become prepared for events when deaf citizens come to seek public assistance or services at their office buildings.
The Namibia National Association for the Deaf (NNAD) also offers basics in sign language proficiency, said Manombe-Ncube.