Special Olympics Rwanda has celebrated a historic partnered sports deal with His Highness Sheikh Mohamad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi where the three-year project has helped to promote inclusion for people and students with intellectual disabilities in six countries.

The project dubbed Unified Champion Schools which wound up next year was introduced in Rwanda in 2020 operating in Arab countries of Argentina, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Romania, and Rwanda.

Rwanda is the first and currently the only country in Africa Region to receive such a grant.

The mega sports initiative was aimed at promoting social inclusion through intentionally planned and implemented activities affecting a systems-wide range, inclusive youth leadership, whole school awareness, and inclusive sports.

Special Olympics Unified Sports and Special Olympics Rwanda have been the implementers of the project.

As part of the farewell activities, events of sports were conducted where the whole school engagement was displayed at Tubiteho Special Center in Gahanga on 24 November from 9 am to 12 pm as Unified Bowls activities between athletes and delegation members from Special Olympics Africa Region

Over 100 delegates attended the event including youth with and without intellectual disabilities, government representatives and visiting delegations from around Africa.

The project has left 577 new schools created, impacting more than 411,00 0 youth, and training over 4,000 coaches and teachers.

Also, in cooperation with districts, Special Olympics Rwanda has recruited, 340 teachers and coaches among other activities in the three-year period.

“Special Olympics Rwanda is extremely proud to host this project, and to share its experiences and activities at this Youth Summit. Unified Champions Schools has had a great impact in the program communities, both directly and indirectly, and we are glad to be sharing our practices,” said Pastor Sangwa Deus, Chair of Special Olympics Rwanda.

“Special Olympics and the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi entered a partnership to grow Special Olympics Unified Champions Schools (UCS) around the world as part of the 2019 Special Olympics World Games legacy”, added Charles Nyambe, Regional President and Managing Director of Special Olympics Africa Region.

“A critical element for this global expansion was empowering a select group of programs to adapt to UCS implementation to other programs in their region and around the world.

Special Olympics Rwanda was selected as a global leader, out of over 190 eligible countries where accredited Special Olympics Programs exist.”

The project has been operating in the City of Kigali, Eastern, Northern, and Western Provinces.