Dr. Cesare Magarotto was one of the founders of World Federation of the Deaf and its first general secretary (1951-1987) along with Vittorio Ieralla who was elected as the president from 1951 to 1955.

Ieralla and Magarotto successfully convinced the Italian government to support their efforts to establish a WFD general secretariat in Rome, in 1951.

With continued support from the Italian government and later with the ENS, the WFD general secretariat was able to establish informative and advocacy networks, with national federations of the deaf around the world.

], emphasis is placed on the following areas:[3] The WFD claims to represent 70 million deaf people worldwide, of which more than 80 percent live in developing countries.

As well as convening the general assembly (the highest decision-making body of the WFD) and forming the guidelines for the next four years of its work, the congress holds a large cultural program including theatre performances, cinema, exhibitions, performing arts, visits to local places of interest.