The event, which responds to the International Week of the Deaf 2018 promotes implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to make sign language equal to other languages.

Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, director of the Center for Action for Community Development, said: “Activities during the week include flashmob dancing in more than 20 cities and provinces as well as deaf clubs, courses on sign language, and contests. The Mobilization Board of Vietnam’s Association of the Deaf is working with the Ministry of Education and Training to make sign language an official language in the education system”.

The Week of the Deaf, initiated by the World Federation of the Deaf and held annually in the last week of September, began in 1958 in Rome. This year Vietnam hosted an event at the national level for the first time to show its commitment enforcing the rights of deaf people in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.