FEATURE: International Sign Language Day: three headways of Nepali Sign Language in State-1

Kathmandu - Birat Anupam Today (September 23) marks the third International Sign Language Day. International Sign Language Day was officially adopted by the United Nations on 19 December 2017 and was started to be observed since 2018. According to the UN website, the official celebration date of September 23 was chosen commemorating the exact date of the establishment of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) in 1951. According to WFD, there are 72 million deaf people worldwide.

There exist 300 different sign languages including Nepali Sign Language. Nepali sign language is just around three decade old. According to the official website of the National Federation of the Deaf Nepal (NDFN), first Nepali Sign Language Dictionary was published only in 1988. NDFN chair KP Adhikari, speaking on the inauguration of the Nepali Sign Language dictionary containing 4300 symbols on 28 May 2018 at Kathmandu, said there are 300,000 hearing-impaired people in Nepal with just around 30 interpreters.