Tokyo Paralympics A ‘Potential Watershed’ After IPC Deal With UN Human Rights

Paralympics Australia strongly supports a new agreement between the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) and is excited about the benefits the collaboration aims to deliver.

The agreement involves the IPC and UN Human Rights working around the Tokyo Paralympics to implement a campaign that targets improving attitudes towards disability and furthering the human rights agenda.

Today is Human Rights Day, marking the day in 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Paralympics Australia Chief Executive Lynne Anderson commended the IPC for its vision in signing the landmark deal.

“The Paralympic Movement’s showcase is the Paralympic Games, but our goals, certainly here in Australia, stretch much further than enabling our elite Para-athletes to represent our nation on the world stage,” Anderson said.

“Our organisation works extremely hard to promote and foster inclusion and diversity through sport, thereby improving the lives of people living with a disability. We know the IPC shares this objective and believe this agreement is a big leap forward in realising our commonly held ambition.

“The Paralympic Games is an enormous global event that provides the perfect platform to challenge perceptions attached to disability. By partnering with UN Human Rights, we see the Tokyo Games as a potential watershed moment in the progression towards fairer and more inclusive societies worldwide.”

As part of the agreement, the IPC and UN Human Rights will investigate ways to cooperate on strategy, research and policy development to ensure equal rights, opportunities and access for people with disabilities. It may also include developing ways for UN Human Rights to contribute to the IPC Inclusion Summit that will be held during the Tokyo Paralympics.

The IPC also announced co-operation agreements with the International Disability Alliance and The Valuable 500, with more partnerships to be announced in coming months.

The Tokyo Paralympics will take place between August 24 and September 5, 2021.

By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 10 December 2020