The persons with hearing impairments will be able to communicate with the authorities and with representative of different organizations with the assistance of certified sign language interpreters. The creation of the given service is an initiative of the Ministry of Labor, Social Protect and Family. The state budget for this year includes 500,000 lei for the purpose, IPN reports.

The bill authors said the hearing-impaired persons are less informed and cannot communicate with the authorities and thus cannot exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations. The sign language interpretation service will be organized by the Association of the Deaf, while the persons with hearing impairments will benefit from it free of charge.

According to the Association’s data, in Moldova there are about 2,600 hearing-impaired persons who can use the given service. Every applicant can benefit from up to six hours of interpretation a year. The Association has nine sign language interpreters who will provide interpretation services.