Special Olympics Reaches New Frontiers in Africa Region
From 14–21 March, 7,500 athletes and 3,000 coaches representing more than 176 nations will participate in 24 officially sanctioned Olympic-style sports in venues throughout Abu Dhabi.
Africa Region will be sending delegations from 36 participating countries, with over 600 competing athletes in total! Added to this will be hundreds of coaches, family members, program guests, and media reporting daily on the Games action.
This includes the addition of 14 new Founding Committees, brand new to the Special Olympics movement! These include Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger and South Sudan.
The first ever Special Olympics World Games to be held in the Middle East and North Africa will also be the most unified Games in the 50-year history of the Special Olympics movement, with inclusion of people of determination with intellectual disabilities in every aspect of the event.
Empowering Athletes for the Workplace in Mozambique
For 50 years, Special Olympics has served as a catalyst for change, empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to expect and demand more of themselves. Through the development of skills that prepare them for inclusion, individuals with intellectual disabilities will be empowered in new ways to demand more of society, to lead, and to show the world the true power of inclusive leadership.
Special Olympics Mozambique is brand new to the movement, but are preparing to participate for the first time at the that is still new in this movement but, if you are preparing to participate for the first time with 4 athletes, being 2 Female and 2 male at the International Abu Dhabi Olympics in 2019, With 2 male and 2 female athletes, pictured in training here.
In order to fully realize the potential of its leaders Special Olympics must be bold and reach beyond the organization and, alongside our partners, foster networks to amplify the skills and voice of people with intellectual disabilities. As a new charge, Special Olympics will expand its skills-based trainings to prepare athletes for valued roles within Special Olympics, the workforce, and their communities. Through partnerships with organizations that specialize in workplace inclusion, more possibilities that go beyond Special Olympics will be available.
