WFD's Extraordinary General Assembly on October 21, 2023

[VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: Jenny and Howard are standing in front of a camera.

JENNY: On October 21st, the NAD participated in the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD)'s extraordinary general assembly to discuss the concerns from the US and many other countries about United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosting the next World Congress of the Deaf in 2027. These concerns include the country’s not allowing LGBTQIA2S+ and queer topics to be presented as well as whether LGBTQIA2S+ people feel safe to go to the country. Originally, WFD considered the three bids from three different countries following their criteria which do not include human rights, as well as whether the country allows LGBTQIA2S+ topics to be discussed. During the World Congress of the Deaf in South Korea, it was discovered that LGBTQIA2S+ and queer topics were not allowed to be discussed in UAE which was considered oppressive for LGBTQIA2S+ members in attendance. Several countries decided to start a petition asking WFD to host a special session which led to the extraordinary general assembly on October 21st. During the extraordinary general assembly, we discussed WFD's process for bids and how to better ensure that human rights are considered as part of their criteria.

HOWARD: During this meeting, the member countries voted that WFD would not make the final decision on which country would host and only gather information, including all human rights related information, and provide all information to the member countries’ delegates to vote on which country will host the next Congress.

JENNY: After we finished discussing the process of the host selection, we discussed the 2027 host again. We had two remaining bids from last Summer: Norway and UAE. During this extraordinary general assembly, Norway withdrew their bid to host 2027. Even with that news, we continued to discuss UAE as a host regarding several concerns. The UAE representatives confirmed they welcome everyone -- including LGBTQIA2S+ attendees as well as people who have different religious beliefs and different race and ethnicity. However, UAE clarified that the Congress cannot have any LGBTQIA2S+ topics as part of the official agenda due to the laws of the country but will respect anyone who discusses LGBTQIA2S+ topics on their own. Some people asked UAE about visas, whether UAE would allow their country to enter, what UAE would offer to delegates, and whether UAE would cover the costs for some countries to attend the next Congress? Members decided to proceed and vote on the host country for 2027. Members would not be able to ask for another meeting to discuss this topic as we've already had this opportunity to reconsider, evaluate, and proceed with the vote. The members proceeded to vote and the results confirmed that UAE is the host country for 2027. The US recognizes and values and supports our LGBTQIA2S+ and queer members, friends and families. We want to ensure that WFD's future procedures when selecting the next host country considers the safety and welcomes LGBTQIA2S+ and queer communities. We hope that UAE establishes safeguards in place to ensure LGBTQIA2S+ and queer people can safely attend the Congress in 2027. We also expect WFD to implement a process that is more transparent to highlight what is allowed or not in each country that bids to host a Congress. We also hope WFD considers the safety of everyone who attends future WFD Congresses.]