On March 17, 2022, CGDS Director of Disability Studies Dr. Lynn Rose attended the Amazha Organization’s International Deaf Spring Conference, held at the Dawa Hotel in Sulaimani. Speakers, sign language interpreters, and audience members attended from the US and Qatar, as well as from Kurdistan. Several informational talks shed light on the challenges for deaf students regarding education and special education. Contributing to the challenges is the lack of a proper sign language dictionary, along with the reluctance of the government to implement the resolutions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2013), signed by the Iraq government, which mandates inclusion for all people with all disabilities.
Image description: Six people — four men and two women— sit on a stage; a seventh man stands to the left. Behind them is a large banner that reads International Deaf’s Spring Conference, with a yellow banner beneath, on which there are several hands forming sign language.