Global Report on the Situation and Rights of Persons with Deafblindness

The World Federation of the Deafblind (WFDB), in collaboration with Sense International and the International Disability Alliance (IDA), has carried out research to address the extent to which the rights of people with deafblindness are being met across the world.

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 well-known and often misunderstood, people struggle to obtain the right support, and are often excluded from both development and disability programmes.

This initial global report on the situation of persons with deafblindness seeks to start a dialogue between international disability rights and development stakeholders, and is based on research undertaken by the World Federation of the Deafblind (WFDB) combining the largest population-based analysis of persons with deafblindness conducted to date, an academic literature review, and two surveys.