Lucía D’Arino & Sanja Tarczay : Insights from the World Federation of the Deaf Blind (WFDB)

An Odyssey with Anum Farooq (Odyssey Global Media)

'Deafblindness is a combined vision and hearing impairment of such severity that it is hard for the impaired senses to compensate for each other. Thus, deafblindness is a distinct disability.

To varying degrees, deafblindness limits activities and restricts full participation in society. It affects social life, communication, access to information, orientation and the ability to move around freely and safely.

To help compensate for the combined vision and hearing impairment, especially the tactile sense becomes important.

Representing between 0.2% to 2% of the population, persons with deafblindness are a very diverse yet hidden group and are, overall, more likely to be poor and unemployed, and with lower educational outcomes. Because deafblindness is less wellknown and often misunderstood, people struggle to obtain the right support, and are often excluded from both development and disability programmes.'

WFDB is a global non-governmental advocacy organization by and for persons with deafblindness, aiming to improve the quality of life and protect the rights of this distinct disability group.

WFDB was established in 2001 and consists today of 75 national and associated member organizations from 67 different countries from all corners of the world.
Relationships have been established with The World Blind Union (WBU), The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), Deafblind International (DbI) and The World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI).

In 2007 the organization attained consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is a member of the International Disability Alliance (IDA) where the WFDB President serves as a member of the board.

Sanja Tarczay was born deaf in Zagreb, Croatia, and later became Deafblind.
In 1994, she founded the Croatian Association of Deafblind Persons “Dodir,”
where she continues to serve as President. Sanja is also a lecturer on
Deafblindness and Sign Language at universities in Zagreb and has published
multiple papers. From 2013 to 2022, she served as President of the European
Deafblind Union and was a member of the Disability Rights Fund's Grantmaking Committee.
Fluent in five sign languages and two spoken languages, Sanja earned her
Doctorate in 2014. Since October 2022, she has been the President of the
World Federation of the Deafblind, advocating for global equality and inclusion.

Lucia D'Arino is the Program Advisor at the World Federation of the Deafblind
(WFDB). Born in Spain to an Argentinian family, she holds a background in
International Relations and European Studies. Lucia has extensive experience
working with organizations of persons with disabilities across Europe and
internationally. In her current role, she coordinates WFDB's international
projects and campaigns and manages advocacy and communication activities.
Lucia is an expert in human rights, accessibility, and intersectionality.