Signmark to perform in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 1 March 2012

Sign language rap artist Signmark aka Marko Vuoriheimo – who is also known as the Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative to promote the rights of persons with disabilities – will perform during the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 1 March 2012.  The Human Rights Council will hold its annual debate on the human rights of persons with disabilities on 1 March. Signmark will perform both during the debate and in a separate concert to be organised in the Serpent Bar in the Palais des Nations in the evening.

Signmark has spotlighted the human rights of persons with disabilities on various international forums, such as the UN General Assembly in New York (2010) and in the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa (2011). So far Signmark has performed in more than 30 countries, now for the first time in the Human Rights Council.

The thrust of Signmark’s action is to advise through his own example and in this way to make persons with disabilities more aware of their rights and opportunities. The question of the rights of people with disabilities is one of the priorities of Finland’s international human rights policy.

Signmark’s rapping is based on a tripartite approach, that is, he seeks to reach both the general public, political decision-makers and the media. He spreads his message in concerts and seminars, attended, among others, by local civil society representatives.

Signmark will perform in the Serpent Bar in the Palais des Nations on 1 March 2012 at 18.15.

Further information: First Secretary Pasi Kokkonen, Unit for Human Rights Policy, [email protected], tel. +358 9 1605 5323 or Programme Coordinator Anne Klemetti, Signmark Productions, [email protected], tel. +358 40 5132 743.