History of the World Federation of the Deaf:
The World Federation of the Deaf, known as WFD, began in 1951 at a world congress of the deaf.
Membership in the World Federation of the Deaf:
The WFD has almost 130 member countries that represent 70 million deaf people internationally.
Mission of the World Federation of the Deaf:
The WFD's mission includes:
- Works to expand acceptance of sign language (not all countries recognize sign language as a legitimate language)
- Improve education - a critical issue especially in developing countries
- Work to improve the human rights situation for deaf people
World Federation of the Deaf Conferences:
The WFD holds international World Congresses, every four years. These conferences have begat organizations like the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters.
Proceedings are a rich deaf studies resource. Examples from past conferences:
- South Africa - How many South African Sign Languages are there?
- Latin America - The role of deaf organizations as advocates for deaf people in Latin America
World Federation of the Deaf Publications:
The World Federation of the Deaf publishes a magazine, the WFD News.
Historical Resources on the World Federation of the Deaf:
Gallaudet University's library has the following historical resources about the World Federation of the Deaf:
- Clippings from 1951, 1955, 1959, etc. (in the archives)
- A book about the World Federation of the Deaf from 1989
- WFD manual on how to establish and run an organization of the deaf, by Raija Moustgaard (1994)
- The Yerker Andersson collection - donated to Gallaudet by Yerker Andersson, a longtime former WFD president
