According to the estimate from the World Federation of the Deaf (www.wfd.org)), about 70 million Deaf people are living In Africa. The majority of the population in Africa is young; 46% are between 15 to 35 years old (UN Population Statistics). This applies to the signing community in Africa as well.

According to the African Union’s Agenda 2063, “The extent to which we are able to commit to youth development through transformational initiatives will be key to harnessing Africa’s demographic dividend and achieving Aspiration 6 of Africa’s Agenda 2063: ‘An Africa whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children.’”

Therefore, an initiative to enrich sign languages of Africa, a primary choice for Deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate, is vital to increase social, economic, and political participation of Deaf people across the continent. To achieve this great initiative, this concept note is developed to communicate to the wide range of sign language and Deaf studies specialists around the world and seek their partnerships and collaboration opportunities.