Addis Ababa, January 14, 2025 (FMC) – The 15th Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR) conference is being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from January 14–17, 2025. This will be the first time the conference has been held in Africa.
Co-organized by the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA) and Addis Ababa University, the conference is being held in Addis Ababa under the theme “Using Sign Language is the Future; the Future is Using Sign Language”.
The 2025 Addis Ababa International Conference on Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research brought sign language specialists across the world to the political capital of the continent, Addis Ababa, is being primarily held in person, virtually and hybrid.
In her remarks at the conference, Ethiopia’s Minister of Women and Social Affairs, Ms. Ergogie Tesfaye said that the event will have a great motivation for sign language and the scholars of the field.
The Minister claimed that Ethiopia has been playing an important role in providing inclusive services to sign language communities in all areas of public utility, including curriculum design. However, she said that it still requires concerted efforts and more investment to fully benefit the citizens with such special needs.
For his part, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, the United Nations Country Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia, said that the fact that Ethiopia is organizing this conference is a demonstration of how much attention it is paying to sign language.
He added that the disadvantage of not expanding sign language is not only impacting individuals with such special need, but also the contribution of the users of the language to their country. He said that with the growing revival, the challenges should be overcome by making the users of the language participate in all fields more than ever.
Acting President of Addis Ababa University Samuel Kefle (PhD) said that everyone should do their part to address the issue in the sector. He also called on the society should integrate it in its day-to-day activities to increase sign language to the required level.
The Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research Conference (TISLR) is a conference where sign language researchers from around the world meet every three years to present their research findings and discuss with each other.
The first conference was held in the year 1986 (1978 in the Ethiopian calendar) in a city called Rochester in the United States of America. Since then, it has been held every three years, mainly in Europe and America. The 14th round was held in Japan.
The main organizer of the conference is the Sign Language Linguistics Society (SLLS), an international professional association. The conference will be held only in institutions authorized by this society.