Our stories. Find out more about our work towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community from across the Caribbean joined regional and international Deaf Education practitioners and researchers last week for the Caribbean Deaf Education Conference (CDEC) at The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Campus.From Thursday, July 23 to Saturday, July 25, the CDEC took place at the UWI St. Augustine School of Education. Implemented with UN system support coordinated by the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator in Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten, the CDEC delved into the principles of inclusive education, human rights, best practices in pedagogies for inclusive classrooms, the human resource gaps in Deaf Education, the importance of sign language as an official language, deaf identity and culture, and perspectives on how Caribbean policymakers can advance inclusive education.  'A Matter of Human Rights'UN Resident Coordinator Joanna Kazana delivered welcome remarks alongside Minister of Education Dr. Michael Dowlath and Rawatee Sharma-Maharaj, Director of the UWI St. Augustine School of Education. RC Kazana emphasised that excluding Deaf and Hard of Hearing children from education is an infringement of their human rights. She encouraged regional policymakers and educators to continue building education systems that are inclusive of Deaf and Hard of Hearing children.Closing the Gap Between Rights and RealityThe UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Caribbean Office chaired a panel discussion examining the gap between the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities and the lived realities of Persons with Disabilities across the Caribbean. While every Caribbean country has ratified the Convention, the obligation to implement its provisions remains ongoing. Regional educators and members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community shared their perspectives during the discussion, and called for national sign languages to be granted official status in each Caribbean country. Centring Youth VoicesThe UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Office supported a panel discussion that placed regional youth voices at the centre of the conversation on inclusive education. Thirteen-year-old Samaya Khan, a student of Marabella South Secondary School, shared her perspective alongside national and regional educators and sign language interpreters working in classrooms across the region.Interactive Displays and Community OutreachUNFPA, UNICEF, UNESCO, UN Women and the UN Resident Coordinator's Office took part in the Conference Expo, offering interactive displays on the Global Goals, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and youth mental health. The team from PAHO/WHO worked alongside its partner, the Trinidad and Tobago Association of the Hearing Impaired, to provide free hearing screening for members of the public. Educational videos provided by the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator in Guyana and in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean were on display to showcase the UN's regional efforts at inclusion of Persons With Disabilities. Check out the Sign Language SDG Explainer Video produced by the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator in Trinidad and Tobago: