Special Olympics Malawi (SOM) executive director Enid Mauluka has said they are delighted that people with intellectual disability will participate in the Africa Union Sports Council (Ausc) Region 5 Youth Games.
This follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that Special Olympics Africa (SOA) signed in Zambia during the Ausc Region 5 Awards.
SOA has also signed an MoU with the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF), targeting Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe to ensure inclusion of the athletes in NIF projects in the three countries.
Reads the MoU in part: “This is a great milestone as far as the promotion of sport among people with intellectual disability is concerned because the Special Olympics strives to create a better world by fostering the acceptance and inclusion of all people,” said Mauluka.
“Through the power of sports, people with intellectual d isab i l i ty d iscover new strengths and abilities, skills and success. The partnership with Ausc Region 5 means more lives of people with intellectual disability will be reached.”
The inclusion of Special Olympics comes two years after Region 5 introduced e-Sports in their games.
Meanwhi le, SOM was among the 70 delegates from the member countries that attended the three-day Ausc Region 5 Sport for People with Disabilities (SPWD) Meeting that ended Friday in Gaborone, Botswana.
The theme of the conference was ‘Inclusion Revolution’ and a number of speakers from the Region and other parts of the globe presented a number of topics aligned to the theme and the current SPWD environment in the region.
At the end of the conference, a Regional SPWD Action Plan was developed for SPWD programme in member countries.
Ausc Region 5 chief executive officer Stanley Mutoya was quoted by The Herald that through the games, Region 5 governments have over the last 20 years collectively invested about $150 million in sports infrastructure development.
