In 2019, The Nippon Foundation approached Deaf Aotearoa about providing advice on the legal recognition of sign languages, and how countries in the Asia Pacific region could work towards having their own sign languages legally recognised.
The Nippon Foundation funded a workshop in Wellington in February 2020 which included representatives from throughout the Asia Pacific region as well as keynote presentations from former Minister for Disability Issues Hon Ruth Dyson and Dr Rachel McKee. Victoria Manning has written a report on this work and we are pleased to be able to launch the report today on International Day of Sign Languages.