Feature: Sport and Human Rights
No.48
September 2006
 
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Profile - Promoting Human Rights
Through Paralympic Sport

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is committed to supporting and promoting human rights for all current and potential Paralympic athletes. In 2004, the IPC Governing Board approved a Position Statement stressing equal access and opportunities and hosted an International Symposium on Human Rights on the occasion of the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. The Symposium, co-organized by Rehabilitation International, brought together representatives from government, sport, the disability rights movement and media to discuss the status, current issues and hot topics around human rights for persons with a disability. A webcast of the symposium is available at www.db1.org/IPCWMP/index.html.

Resources
The IPC and Rehabilitation International developed educational toolkits to explain the process of developing a Convention on the Rights and Dignities of Persons with a Disability and the role of Paralympic athletes as advocates.
In addition, the IPC has published a document written by Ms. Cheri Blauwet, US
Paralympic athlete and scholar titled "The Paralympics: Promoting Health and Human Rights through Sport". Ms Blauwet outlines how the Paralympic Movement can be a vehicle to promote the concepts of health and human rights for athletes with a disability.
Source:
Contact:
For more information about the IPC's approach to human rights or publications, please contact, IPC Development Manager at amy.farkas@paralympic.org or visit the IPC website http://www.paralympic.org.




The Position Statement of the IPC on Human Rights
IPC Handbook Section 2, Chapter 2
  1. The Paralympic Vision of IPC is “To Enable Paralympic Athletes to Achieve Sporting Excellence and Inspire and Excite the World”.
  2. IPC believes all individuals should enjoy equal access and opportunities for leisure, recreation and sporting activities, and such rights be granted and guarded by the legal and administrative systems of the responsible governments and communities.
  3. IPC firmly believes in the unlimited athletic potential of persons with a disability, and thereby embraces the sporting achievements of Paralympic athletes. Equal opportunities for sporting development, participation, training, and recognition of achievement should be provided for persons with disabilities in all schools, sports clubs and venues, sports organizations and communities.
  4. The IPC believes in sport as a vehicle to promote peace, which will result in the preservation of human dignity and equality for all.
  5. IPC shall promote the above philosophy and actualize its policy through the Paralympic Games and all other sporting activities, and through its Membership and work with countries, regions, sports, and groups representing persons with a disability.






http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5