Paralympics body launches programme for human rights of the disabled

Just five days before the start of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee has in association with other organisers of Special Olympics and Deaflympics launched a global campaign to end discrimination towards persons with disabilities.

The campaign called "WeThe15", the IPC hopes, will benefit the World's 1.2 billion persons with disabilities, which make up 15 percent of the global population.

Apart from the IPC, Special Olympics, the "WeThe15" campaign brings together international organisations like UN Human Rights and UNESCO. The four organisations for the disabled - the IPC, Special Olympics, Invictus Games Foundation and the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (Deaflympics) - have teamed up for the first time in history, aiming to use sports events to raise further awareness and understanding of the issues facing persons with disabilities around the globe.

Spearheaded by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and International Disability Alliance (IDA), WeThe15 brings together the biggest coalition ever of international organisations from the worlds of sport, human rights, policy, business, arts, and entertainment. Together they will work with governments, businesses, and the public over the next decade to initiate change for the world's largest marginalised group who make up 15% of the global population.

IPC President Andrew Parsons said: "WeThe15 aspires to be the biggest ever human rights movement for persons with disabilities and aims to put disability right at the heart of the inclusion agenda, alongside ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

"By uniting several leading international organisations and the world's 1.2 billion persons with disabilities behind one common movement, we will make a tangible and well overdue difference for the planet's largest marginalized group.

"Sport, and events such as the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, are hugely powerful vehicles to engage global audiences. By partnering with Special Olympics, Invictus Games, and Deaflympics, there will be at least one major international sports event for persons with disabilities to showcase WeThe15 each year between now and 2030.

"These sports events add great value to the campaign and underline the hugely positive impact sport can have on society. I strongly believe WeThe15 could be a real game-changer for persons with disabilities."