GNAD courts media to promote importance of sign language

THE Executive Director of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD), Mr Juventus Dourinaah, has called on the media to take a lead role in promoting inclusivity and accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing persons in Ghana.

He made the call at a media forum last week on the theme “No Human Rights Without Sign Language Rights.” It brought together journalists, development partners, and members of the Deaf community.

The event formed part of efforts to highlight the importance of sign language as a human right and to encourage media institutions to adopt inclusive communication practices.

Mr Dourinaah emphasised that the media was one of the most powerful tools for shaping public perception, influencing policies, and setting national agendas.

“The media holds strong power to influence understanding and build inclusion.”

For deaf persons, he said, access to information through sign language, captioning, and visual communication is not a privilege but rather a human right.

He added that without accessible communication, deaf people remain excluded from national conversations, education, and opportunities that shape their lives.

He therefore urged both public and private broadcasters to integrate sign language interpretation into all news programmes, public service announcements, and major national events.

Mr Dourinaah also appealed to the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Ministry of Communications (MoC) to make accessibility a mandatory requirement for all media houses.

At the end of the meeting, media representatives in a communique pledged to promote accessibility by including Ghanaian Sign Language interpretation and subtitles in programming.

They also pledged to ensure fair and non-discriminatory representation of deaf persons while collaborating with GNAD to train media personnel on inclusive communication.

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