Special Olympics Rwanda celebrated a historic partnership with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at a Youth Leadership Summit at the Kigali Convention Center. Over 100 delegates attended, including youth with and without intellectual disabilities, government representatives, and visiting Special Olympics Africa delegations.
KIGALI, November 25, 2022, Under the theme “Unlocking the Potential of Inclusion through Unified Champion Schools,” a summit of youth with and without intellectual disabilities from primary schools, secondary schools, and universities was held and attended by Mr. Charles Nyambe, The Regional President and Managing director at Special Olympics Africa
Special Olympics International collaborated with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, to launch the Unified Champions School (UCS) project initiative in six countries: Argentina, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Romania, and Rwanda.
According to Pastor Deus Sangwa, the chairman of Special Olympics Rwanda, the project is yielding positive results in Rwanda and people with intellectual disabilities are getting rid of isolation to live in a truly unified, harmonious and socially inclusive school society
“Special Olympics Rwanda is extremely proud to host this project, and to share its experiences and activities at this Youth Summit. Unified Champions Schools has had a great impact in the Program communities, both directly and indirectly, and we are glad to be sharing our practices,” said Pastor Sangwa Deus, Chair of Special Olympics Rwanda.
The goal of Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools is to promote social inclusion via carefully designed and implemented activities that affect system-wide change, such as inclusive young leadership, whole-school awareness, and inclusive sports. Special Olympics Unified Sports is an essential component of UCS as a technique that has been shown to increase tolerance and inclusion in schools and is sponsored by a global network of sports federations and global sponsors.
Special Olympics Rwanda offers events and training sessions to adolescents of all abilities that promote both personal and professional development. Special Olympics Rwanda has already trained hundreds of teachers and coaches in Unified Schools and Unified Sports management, broadening the scope of Special Olympics programming and reaching previously underserved intellectually disabled athletes.
Since 2020, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s sponsorship of this initiative has enabled the following accomplishments:
- Special Olympics Rwanda has carried out this initiative from all the corners of the country; Kigali, the Eastern, Northern, and Western Provinces.
- Special Olympics Rwanda has recruited 170 schools in collaboration with the Districts (40, 70, 25, and 25 schools respectively).
- 340 education experts in Rwanda have been prepared with Unified Champion Schools tools and information about sports for individuals with intellectual impairments by training a representative teacher and a coach from each school.
- Along with sports knowledge, 110 people with intellectual disabilities have already received Unified Sports kits, which include 15 football jerseys, 9 athletics jerseys, 5 bocce jerseys, 2 footballs, 10 corners, 2 whistles, 1 stopwatch, and 1 box of bocce balls. All 170 schools are expected to receive their sports uniforms before the end of the school year.
- With the donation of 200 footballs and 100 basketballs, Special Olympics Rwanda collaborated with the Ministry of Education Active Holidays Sports Equipment in the “Active Holiday” initiative, which brought together students of all abilities on summer vacation to socialize and play games in a supportive environment.
- Kigali Car Free Day, a well-known sporting event that takes place every first and third Sunday of the month, when roads are closed to motorized cars and only walking and cycling are permitted. Special Olympics Rwanda has enabled persons with intellectual impairments to engage in this sport for the first time. This event has been held four times since the beginning of the initiative, with our athletes taking part each time.
- Special Olympics Rwanda organized a vibrant celebration at the major Down Town Bus Station, energized by athletes, family members, and volunteers, to promote the inclusion of persons with intellectual impairments.
In the year 2020, His Highness, the President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, has given Special Olympics a transformational US$25 million gift to establish the Special Olympics Global Center for Inclusion in Education in Abu Dhabi, as well as the growth and development of Unified Champions School (UCS).
Currently, the program has established UCS in six countries, including Rwanda, with a goal of expanding to 17 additional nations by January 2023. His Highness’ generosity has resulted in the establishment of 577 new schools, the effect of more than 411,000 kids, and the training of over 4,000 coaches and teachers.
When answering a journalist’s question after the summit, Mr. Charles Nyambe, The Special Olympics Africa Chairman emphasized that the programs created to promote social inclusion will stand firm for more years on this continent and certain measures are in place to ensure that the projects are well maintained
“There will be no failure. monitoring and evaluation are carried out on a regular basis. So, if we see the TrenDs, we will take immediate action. Our well-built infrastructure is something we can be proud of.”
Rwanda is the first and only country in sub-Saharan Africa to get this grant, which has been in place since 2020 and will last through 2023, thanks to its government’s inclusive approach.
