World Blind Union

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The World Blind Union ( WBU ; Engl .: World Blind Union (WBU), Fr .: Union Mondiale des Aveugles (UMA), span .: Unión Mundial de Ciegos (UMC)) is the international industry association of blind and visually impaired people in 177 member countries and about 600 individual organizations that represent the concerns of the blind and / or offer services and programs for the blind. She has consultant status with the UN organs and agencies and the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).

The WBU was founded in 1984 through the merger of the International Federation of the Blind (IFB) and the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind (WCWB). Business is the Toronto ( Ontario ) in Canada .

The aim of the WBU is to ensure that blind and visually impaired people participate equally in all aspects of social, economic, political and cultural life. To this end, it seeks to overcome prejudices, promote trust in the abilities of blind and visually impaired people, and achieve full social participation and equality.

Since 2001, the WBU has been responsible for World Braille Day every January 4th, the world day for Braille .

The WBU itself does not offer any direct services or services for the blind and visually impaired, but acts as a forum, interest group and advocate. Most of the work of the WBU is carried out in its six regional blind unions:

  • African Union of the Blind (AFUB)
  • Asian Blind Union (ABU)
  • WBU Asia-Pacific (WBU-AP)
  • European Blind Union (EBU)
  • Unión Latinoamericana de Ciegos (ULAC)
  • WBU North America / Caribbean (WBU NA / C)

Members in German-speaking countries

Among the institutional members are:

Web links