No.48 September 2006 |
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Abstract
Although the human right for people with disabilities to participate
in sport or physical activity is not a newly recognized right at the
United Nations, it has been just recently that the momentum to guaranteeing
this right across the world has begun. The following paper will examine
both the drafting of the Disability Convention and the International
Year of Sport and Physical Education’s contribution to the human
rights movement in sport. It will also discuss the founding of the International
Disability in Sport Working Group and provide a list of challenges that
the working group foresees for the future.
Introduction
The movement towards recognizing and capitalizing
on the human rights involved in sport 1, especially for people
with disabilities, has only recently begun to gain momentum 2.
This newfound impetus, however, is not because the human right to participate
in sport and physical activity is a new right recognized by the United
Nations or other regional bodies; in reality the human right to participate
in sport and physical activity has been accepted at the international
level for almost 30 years. As early as 1978, UNESCO drafted the International
Charter on Physical Education and Sport, which explicitly states that
“The practice of physical education and sport is a fundamental human
right for all.” 3 The Charter emphasizes that every person
is entitled to participate in sport, including women, children and youth,
the elderly and those with disabilities. 4
Besides UNESCO’s Charter, two other international
instruments contain provisions that protect the human right to participate
in sport and physical activity. However, unlike UNESCO, the documents
focus specifically on disability and not on sport. In 1982 the United
Nations created the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons
5 and in 1993 they created The Standard Rules on the Equalization
of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. 6 Both instruments
contained Articles that recognized people with disabilities’ right
to sport. 7
However, the true catalyst for this recent acknowledgement by societies
across the world of the role of sport in development, especially in
the context of people with disabilities, has come from two key actions
taken by the United Nations: (1) establishing an ad hoc committee in
2001 to create a legally binding Convention to protect the rights and
dignity of people with disabilities and (2) declaring 2005 as the International
Year of Sport and Physical Education.
The following paper will examine the importance of sport in human development
for people with disabilities framed by the Convention process and UN
Year of Sport and Physical Education. It will also discuss the formation
of an International Disability in Sport Working Group and the future
challenges in developing people with disabilities in sport.
The Implications of Sport for the Human Development in the Context of
People with Disabilities
The ability to participate in sport is not only a human right, but it
also serves as an enabler of other human rights. If we take the example
of individuals with disabilities in refugee camps, why should the United
Nations care about providing newly disabled refugees with sports programs
when they are having trouble merely providing them with basic food,
water and medical supplies?
Newly displaced refugees are often individuals who
have just lost their job, their homes, have seen family members shot in
front of their own eyes, are newly disabled or are suffering from the
trauma of war. Many times those that are newly disabled feel as if their
lives are simply over because of the negative stereotypes toward people
with disabilities found in their cultures. However, when these individuals
are placed in a sports realm, their mindset changes from one of disability
to that of ability. 8 The focus is on their ability to score
a goal or block a shot; not on the fact that their bodies differ from
“normal” standards set by society. 9 They start
seeing that their body, although it functions in a different way, is still
capable of doing things they never thought it would be capable of doing.
Sport also changes the perceptions of those observing.
The onlookers begin to see these individuals with disabilities doing things
they would never have imagined them able to do. Each time their initial
belief about those with disabilities is proven wrong, they become more
inclined to believe that these people with disabilities are capable of
accomplishing more. It also effectively tackles social exclusion. In Cambodia,
Handicap International conducted a three-day camp placing people with
disabilities with people without disabilities. 10 After the
three days, they found that exposure to people with disabilities that
the camp fostered, had positively influenced and improved the perceptions
of disability in the children participating. 11
Sport also teaches social skills to individuals
with disabilities. It teaches cooperation, respect, self-esteem and leadership.
12 The value of learning these skills is especially important
for people with disabilities because they are frequently excluded from
the educational system and other arenas where their non-disabled peers
receive these skills.
The United Nations has also recognized that sport
is low cost. A soccer ball can be made from scraps and a goal made from
throwing two shirts down on the ground. Sport is also universal –
it is found in even the most desolate places on earth. As a result, it
is a universal language, understood by all, despite native language barriers.
13
The health benefits of sport are similarly immense.
Not only does it lead to a healthy lifestyle but it also serves as an
inexpensive means of physical and psychological rehabilitation. Additionally,
it is an excellent platform to educate about health issues such as HIV/AIDS.
14 This is because it is a safe environment, where athletes
trust and respect their coaches. 15 It is also an environment
where the individuals are taught respect for the body. 16 Further,
it brings large groups of people from a community together in a fun way,
increasing the number of people these important messages will reach. 17
Sport also contributes to sustainable economic development.
18 It creates jobs for coaches, for those involved in making sport
equipment and for industry service providers. It serves as a platform
to teach entrepreneurial business skills, such as strategy, teamwork and
planning. It also is a realm for potential employees to gain the skills
necessary to become successful workers.
Finally, since the sport arena has incredible social networks through
volunteerism and support via community leaders and teachers –
more than any other human activity, including religion – the possibilities
for influence on decision makers is endless and can be a strong catalyst
for social mobilization.
The Disability Convention
The true change in perceptions that started to legitimize
human rights for people with disabilities in sport began with the resolution
of the UN General Assembly on the 19th of December in 2001, to establish
an Ad Hoc Committee "to consider proposals for a comprehensive and
integral international Convention [i.e. treaty] to promote and protect
the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.” 19 After
advocates convened several times a year, for five years, on August 25th
2006, a U. General Assembly panel approved the draft text. The text is
expected to be approved during the 61st session of the 192 nation General
Assembly, which began in September 2006.
The sport and physical activity text is as follows:
With a view to enabling persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure and sporting activities, States Parties shall take appropriate measures:
The proposed Convention differed from all other documents
previously created by the United Nations focusing on disability because
those were not considered “legally binding.” This means “that
the parties [to the past documents did] not intend to create binding obligations
but merely want to declare certain aspirations.” 20 This
movement towards the creation of a legally binding instrument specifically
protecting the human rights of people with disabilities would produce
not only an instrument that could be enforced, but also serve as a catalyst
for a renewed rights movement across the world.
The need for this Convention was aptly pointed out
by Mary Lou Breslin and Sylvia Yee, two scholars in the field of international
disability rights, who note that the existing state of international law
addressing disability rights is that of a “toothless tiger.”
21 They state that a new treaty would,
“Legitimize claims for additional attention and resources from the human rights division of the United Nations, governments, and other organizations; …[it] would provide an opportunity to both add specific content to the human rights of persons with disabilities and address hitherto unexplored areas… [it] would give disability rights organizations a specific tool for promoting human rights for persons with disabilities in domestic contexts and to their own governments … [and it] would be a catalyst for empowering and mobilizing the global disability rights movement.” 22 Since the Convention’s inception, an article
on the right to participate in sport was introduced in draft texts.23
However, despite these positive contributions, disability in sport advocates
at the United Nations continued to battle a population that was largely
ignorant about people with disabilities in sport. Many of those at the
United Nations typically belonged to an older generation that did not
have a high percentage of participants in sport. This made it difficult
for the right to be recognized, respected and accepted. In the beginning,
disability advocates stood up in caucus 24 meetings questioning
whether sport was even a human right. As a result, disability in sport
advocates started moving away from the use of the term “sport”
and towards “physical activity” because this was a more widely
accepted term and focused on the more concrete benefits of sport as opposed
to merely elite sports. The advocates began ingraining in the minds of
advocates that sport is not a luxury, but at the most basic level a human
right and that it is essential for all individuals to lead healthy, fulfilling
lives.
The advocates also embarked on an educational campaign in order to outfit
state parties with the necessary knowledge and tools to create an effective
Article. In June of 2004, they held a briefing at the United Nations,
inviting speakers from all over the world to address an audience of
over 80 State Delegates and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s)
on the issues involved in people with disabilities in sport. One of
the biggest misunderstandings between state delegates was the different
settings in which individuals with disabilities participate in sport.
The first setting is one in which an athlete with a disability competes
with athletes without disabilities, known as participating in “mainstream
activities.” An example of this is a deaf athlete competing in
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) soccer with athletes
who are not deaf. In this realm, the athlete faces discrimination comparable
to women and ethnic/racial minorities. An athlete often experiences
unfounded discrimination about his or her playing capabilities. Coaches
may start with low expectations for the individual with a disability,
making the athlete have to raise the bar that much higher than his peers
without disabilities. Or the athlete with a disability might not even
be given the chance to participate – a physical education teacher
may fail to see ways to adapt the sports to include them or just assume
that they are unable to participate. Individuals with disabilities may
also not receive the necessary accommodations for their disability.
For example, a deaf athlete participating with hearing peers, needs
a sign language interpreter to ensure that he or she can benefit from
coaching at a comparable level as other athletes.
The second realm is known as “disability-specific
sport.” In this realm, individuals with disabilities participate
with other individuals with comparable disabilities. Due to diverse mobility
capabilities, full integration into mainstream sports and recreation activities
is not possible for a large percentage of the disability population. For
example, consider the safety risks involved if able-bodied athletes compete
with persons in wheelchairs in contact sports. 25 Thus, disability-specific
programming is important for realizing equal opportunity in sport. Many
of these sports are adapted forms of mainstream sports such as sled hockey
where individuals with lower limb impairments use sleds as skates. In
this realm, individuals with disabilities often experience discrimination
in the form of not having access to coaches that are trained in adapting
sport to fit the needs of those competing with disabilities, or not being
able to access the local gym or recreation fields because they are not
outfitted with wheelchair ramps or other necessary accommodations. Thus,
athletes in disability specific sport require different resources than
their mainstream counterparts.
In one of the initial drafts of the policy, it included
a provision that stated, “ensure that persons with disabilities
have an opportunity to organise and participate in sporting activities
and to receive the same [emphasis provided] instruction, training
and resources in support that is available to other participants.”
26 Although the intent here was benevolent, the potential policy
implications were to give a group of individuals who could not move without
wheelchairs access to gyms with steps or to coaches who had no idea how
to train athletes with disabilities in games such as wheelchair rugby.
Further, it would not have required equipment, games and resources to
be adapted to the needs of the athletes with disabilities in order to
actively participate in sports. Instead, disability in sport advocates
successfully urged the replacement of “same” with “appropriate”,
reflecting the fact that individuals with disabilities often need different
resources, etc. As a result of the different protections needed in these
different settings, a subclause was drafted for each disability-specific
sport and mainstream sport. 27
Another problem encountered in the initial language
was that “participation” was not defined. As a result, it
could be interpreted to mean merely serving as a scorekeeper. In the final
draft text participation has been qualified by stating, “To encourage
and promote the participation, to the fullest extent possible”
[emphasis provided].
At the beginning of the Convention, the article on sport and physical activity did not contain specific mention of vulnerable populations in sport – i.e. women with disabilities, children and refugees. 28 Disability in sport advocates were successful in obtaining special protection for children’s right to play as well as their right to actively participate in physical education. The advocates were also successful in obtaining special protection for women in the sporting realm even though the Article on sport does not specifically address gender. The Convention includes this special protection for women in Article 6, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sex, throughout all articles of the Convention. Advocates lobbied for the use of the word “gender” instead of “sex” because it protected a broader group of people i.e. transgender or intersex athletes. However, during the final meeting, “gender” was replaced with “sex.” Although disability in sport advocates were able to convince some countries to take up the issue of refugees,29 they were unsuccessful in getting it included in the final draft text.
These meetings served as an important impetus to expand recognition
of the human development potential that sport brings for people with
disabilities because not only does it serve as a potential vehicle to
bind governments legally to their obligations in the realm of people
with disabilities in sport but it also brought leaders from all over
the world together to work on the Convention. After the meetings, these
leaders go back to their native countries to continue the momentum of
the Convention in their homelands. 2005: The International Year of Sport and Physical Education
The second catalyst that has brought the human rights
embodied in sport to the global consciousness was a decision in November
of 2003 by the United Nations to declare 2005 as the International Year
of Sport and Physical Education. 30 The United Nations acknowledged
that despite past UN documents delineating the developmental benefits
of sport, the world was far behind in using it to help achieve human development
to the fullest potential. 31 They also noted “that sport
and physical education in many countries face increasing marginalization
within educational systems.” 32 They hoped that the year
would increase sports role in promoting education, health, development
and peace. 33
The reaction from the year of sport was immensely
successful. “70 countries identified multi-stakeholder national
committees or national focal points to plan, coordinate and implement
national observance of the Year, thousands of local projects were initiated.
Also during this time over 20 international conferences and 18 regional
conferences were held within the context of the International Year of
Sport and Physical Education and thousands of other initiatives strengthened
the role of sport and physical education as an integral dimension of the
development and cooperation strategies of all stakeholders including sports
organizations, athletes, multilateral organizations and the United Nations
system, bilateral development agencies, Governments across all sectors,
the armed forces, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and
sports industry, research institutions and the media.” 34
According to the Special Rappeteurs final report, the “International
Year contributed to a better understanding of the value of sport and physical
education for human development and a more systematic use of sport in
development programmes.” 35
However, largely absent from the International Year
of Sport and Physical Education’s agenda were conferences, educational
initiatives and programs that specifically focused on disability, even
though there were many focusing on sport and gender.36
Formation of a Working Group
As the meetings drew to a close, disability in sport advocates began
formulating an International Disability in Sport Working Group. Not
only was there an absence in the UN Sport office focusing on disability
but the policy that the advocates had been working on for so long was
only as effective as the programs, research and momentum that grew out
of it.
The mission of the International Disability in Sport
Working Group is to advance and protect people with disabilities’
human rights as they relate to sport. 37 The working groups
goals are:
The working group has successfully secured support from UN Year of Sport
and Physical Education, UNICEF, the International Women in Sport Working
Group (a parallel working group that focuses on women), Special Olympics
International, the Deaflympics, the International Paralympic Committee
and from top international organizations involved in disability in sport
development such as Rehabilitation International, Disabled People International
(DPI) and Landmine Survivors Network.
Following in the footsteps of the Convention, the
working group must ensure that the momentum created by the UN Year of
Sport and Physical Education as well as the Convention is not lost. Every
possible media outlet should be utilized to spread information about the
Convention and people with disabilities in sport. Campaigns to get countries
to ratify the treaty must be undertaken, because if a country does not
sign the Convention, the Convention cannot protect that country’s
disabled population. Another challenge is educating a largely uneducated
world about people with disabilities in sport, and in the process, using
sport to adapt communities’ minds about people with disabilities.
It will be important also to continually monitor access to sport and physical
activity for people with disabilities across the globe to ensure that
these rights are given. We must also fill the gap in research related
to disability in sport and the human rights associated with it. Hard academic
research must be done in the field in order to provide evidence of the
benefits of people with disabilities participating in sport, along with
their socio-economic development. Finally, it will be important to ensure
that governments and other organizations involved in sport interpret the
Convention to the greatest benefit of people with disabilities (i.e. the
fact that discrimination on the basis of sex is prohibited in realm of people with disabilities in sport).
1 The term “sport” throughout
this paper will refer to all levels of physical activity – sport, recreation,
play and leisure.
2 Final Report: International Year
of Sport and Physical Education 2005, Para 98, page 20.
3 Article I, UNESCO International
Charter on Physical Education and Sport.
http://www.unesco.org/education/information/nfsunesco/pdf/ SPORT_E.PDF#search=%221978%20UNESCO%20charter%20 on%20sports%20and%20physical%20education%22 (last accessed August 17, 2006). 4 Id. at 1.3.
5 See http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/dissre00.htm
(last accessed August 17, 2006).
6 See http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/dissre00.htm
(last accessed August 17, 2006).
7 The World Programme of Action
Concerning Disabled Persons states, “The importance of sports for disabled
persons is becoming increasingly recognized. Member States should therefore
encourage all forms of sports activities of disabled persons, inter alia,
through the provision of adequate facilities and the proper organization
of these activities.” The Standard Rules state in Rule 11, “States will
take measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal opportunities
for recreation and sports.
8 Karen DePauw and Susan Gavron,
“Disability and Sport”, Human Kinetics, at 10 (1995).
9 Elise Roy, “Using Sport as a Muscle
for Integration: The Legal Rights of Athletes with Disabilities to Participate
in Recreational and Sporting Opportunities.” (not published, 2003).
10 Jenny Ikelberg, et al. Fun Inclusive!
http://www.handicap-international.org.uk/pdfs/Fun_Inclusive_Sport_and_Disability.pdf (Last accessed August 29, 2006). 11 Id.
12 Sport for Development and Peace:
Towards Achieving the UN Millennium Goals, United Nations, at V(2003).
13 Id. at 17.
14 HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns for people with disabilities are even more vital as “literacy rates for disabled individuals are exceptionally low, thus making communication of messages about HIV/AIDS all the more difficult.” (HIV/AIDS and People With Disability, The Lancet, vol. 361, April 26, 2003, p. 1401-1402.) In addition, individuals with disabilities are frequently overlooked in HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns because they are often not viewed as sexual individuals or drug users. However in reality,
“those with [a] disability - and disabled women in particular- are likely to have more sexual partners than their non-disabled peers. Extreme poverty and social sanctions against marrying a disabled person mean that they are likely to become involved in a series of unstable relationships. Disabled individuals (both male and female) around the world are more likely to be victims of sexual abuse and rape than their non-disabled peers.”
Id. 15 Id. at 22.
16 Id.
17 Id.
18 Id. at 11.
19 See Resolution 56/168 http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/disA56168e1.htm
(last accessed August 17, 2006).
20 See
http://untreaty.un.org/English/guide.txt (last accessed August 17,
2006).
21 Mary Lou Breslin and Silvia
Yee, “Disability Rights and Policy: International and National Perspectives,”
Transnational Publishers, at 18 (2002).
22 Id.
23 See Working Paper Submitted
by Mexico, Article 16: “States Parties shall ensure that persons with
disabilities have access to and the enjoyment of:
24 For the first time ever in
an international treaty drafting process non-governmental organizations
(NGO’s) were able to actively participate in discussions regarding the
draft text. The forum created for the NGO voice was an International
Disability Caucus (IDC), which appointed representatives to voice the
collective NGO stand.
25 Elise Roy, “January 2004 Draft
Working Group Disability Convention Text Critique” (distributed only
at the United Nations) (March 2004).
26 See http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahcwgreporta24.htm
(Last accessed August 29, 2006).
27 Please refer to page, 6 for
the full text of these subclauses.
28 See http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahcwgreportax1.htm
(Last accessed August 29, 2006).
29 See Report of the Third Session
of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity
of People with Disabilities, A/AC.265/2004/5, (June, 9 2004).
30 A/RES/58/5, “Sport as a means
to promote education, health, development and peace.”
31 Id.
32 Id.
33 Id.
34 Final Report International
Year of Sport and Physical Education.
http://www.un.org/sport2005/a_year/IYSPE_Report_FINAL.pdf at 2, (2005) 35 Id.
36 The Year of Sport did hold
a conference on Rehabilitation Through Physical Activity and Sport that
addressed adapted sport and also focused on the psychological effects
of the Southeast Asia tsunami. The Year of Sport also formed partnerships
with the International Paralympic Committee and Special Olympics as
well as had a small section on their website devoted to sport and disability.
However, there were no tangible results felt as in the gender realm.
37 International Disability in
Sport Working Group Goals and Objectives, internal memorandum (January
2006).
38 Id. ![]() http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 |