PM Jacinda Ardern launches video campaign for NZ Sign Language Week

Monday, 7 May 2018

The prime minister has released a video encouraging Kiwi business leaders to support deaf people.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has released a video encouraging Kiwi business leaders and the hearing majority to support deaf people this New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week, and business leaders are following suit.

Stuff's people and culture director Annamarie Jamieson said it was fantastic to see the prime minister and other leaders challenging unconscious bias in the workplace.

Jacinda Ardern and business leaders around New Zealand released videos.

It's New Zealand Sign Language Week, and Stuff CEO Sinead Boucher says 'news content should be accessible for everyone'.

'We need to remember that NZSL is one of our official languages, so shining a light on our deaf community and this important method of communication is something I think is really special.'

Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher has also released a video, saying 'news content should be accessible for everyone'.

* Sign language a 'beautiful expressive language'

* Museum talk interpreted in sign language for deaf community

* Supporting deaf people at work beyond Sign Language Week

* Breaking down barriers, one coffee at a time**

The Co-Op Coffee Cart in Stuff's Auckland newsroom.

About 15 Kiwi leaders have agreed to release videos over NZSL Week for the NZSL Week Leaders Challenge, which Jamieson believed would inspire many other Kiwis to get involved.

Stuff won an Attitude Award last year for inclusiveness towards people with disabilities. The company employs staff with intellectual disabilities across the country as part of a programme it launched in 2012 called Creative Spirit.

'We employ a number of people across the country who add a huge amount of value to our offices and are encouraging other New Zealand businesses to do the same,' Jamieson said.

'Too often people with intellectual and physical disabilities are overlooked or discriminated against when seeking employment. We're proving that those biases just don't have any weight.'

Stuff also runs a New Zealand sign language cafe in its Auckland newsroom, where staff must use sign language to order a drink. Staff have been taught the basics, and can remind themselves with how-to posters and videos.

The cafe was launched 'to create a positive dialogue around diversity and inclusion through the everyday ritual of grabbing a cup of great coffee', Jamieson said.

'In the opening week, we taught 350 staff how to use very basic sign language,' she said.

PM Jacinda Ardern launches NZ Sign Language Week, announcing all post-cabinet press conferences will now include a sign language interpreter.

CHAMPIONING NZSL IN BUSINESSES

Advocacy group Deaf Aotearoa invited the prime minister to lead the video challenge, chief executive Lachlan Keating said.

'The prime minister has made a beautiful video,' he said.

'There will be a series of about 15 others,' he said, including business leaders such as Boucher, World Federation of the Deaf (WF) President Colin Allen, and Wellington Mayor Justin Lester.

Two or three videos a day would be published over the week on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media.

Keating hoped the initiative would grow organically and that other leaders would be inspired to make their own videos 'to promote and champion sign language in their own organisations and to be leaders in ways they haven't been leaders before'.

New Zealand businesses are embracing sign language 'slowly', Keating said.

'But we definitely are seeing more people get opportunities,' he said.

'And there is evidence that more diverse organisations, particularly in senior leadership, means more successful organisations.'

EMBRACING DIVERSITY

After making a conscious effort to become more diverse, Jamieson said the Stuff workforce was well-placed to better understand how different communities ticked.

'As a media company, it's really important for us to be an inclusive voice for all New Zealanders and to reflect our diverse communities, and that journey has to start on our own home turf,' she said.

'We can use such knowledge to become more innovative in how we deliver our services.'

The government invests $1.25 million a year into the New Zealand Sign Language Fund, which supports community-led initiatives to create a stronger NZSL community.

THE DETAILS:

* New Zealand Sign Language Week runs from May 7-13. For more information, check out deaf.org.nz and find the events taking place in your region here.

* People are encouraged to make their own videos and share their NZSL Week experiences by using the following hashtags on their posts: #NZSLWeek #NZSLLeadersChallenge #NZSLIsForEveryone.