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COMMIT TO INCLUSION
INTERNATIONAL

A campaign that promotes the right for children with disabilities to inclusive physical activity, physical education, sport, recreation and play.

  • 15% of the world’s population is living with some form of disability; more than one billion people.
  • 80% of people with disabilities live in developing countries.
  • 150 million children under 18 are estimated to be living with a disability.

Inequalities and discrimination span from community and school-based physical activity programmes, like physical education, to organized and informal sport and recreation programmes, to access play spaces like community playgrounds, as well as sporting and leisure venues.

It’s time to end the exclusion of children and adolescents with disabilities from physical activity and all associated areas:

Physical Education
Participation in quality physical education is important for developing physical literacy.

Sport
Well-organized inclusive physical activity and sport programs can have a positive impact on social cohesion.

Recreation
Every child has the right to leisure and to engage in recreational activities apporporiate to the age of the child.

Play
For young children, play in particular, allows for exploration and the development of fine motor skills.

  • Physical inactivity has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality.
  • Of people with disabilities, 57% think they develop a sense of belonging in their community through volunteering.
  • People with disabilities are 2x more likely to find health care providers’ skills and facilities inadequate.

Areas where inclusion can be found, include but are not limited to:

1. Programme and policy objectives include people with disabilities.
2. Involvement of persons with disabilities in development, implementation, and evaluation.
3. Programme accessibility and accommodations for participants.
4. Outreach and communication.
5. Cost considerations and feasibility.
6. Affordability to people with disabilities.

(Based on the U.S. Guidelines for Disability Inclusion)

Increasing physical activity and sports for children with disabilities is a societal, not just an individual responsibility, demanding a multi-sectoral, multidisciplinary, and culturally relevant approach.

Founding Partners

As part of the global campaign, organizations and individuals are invited to make a commitment that states how they will work to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities are realized and ensure their work is inclusive of everyone.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
UNESCO Chair
Motivation
Play & Train
American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD)
International Paralympic Committee (IPC)

Read all Commitments

What can you or your organization do to foster a more inclusive community, programme, or policy?

Become an Advocate for Inclusion. Send Commitment

Activate using #CommitToInclusion on Social Media

Follow on Twitter (@InclusionMeans) and Instagram (@CommitToInclusion)

Click to get media activation tools / Click to get action resources

Lead Organizations

The GPcwd Task Force on Physical Activity and Sport with the following lead organizations have made this international campaign possible:

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD)
Lakeshore Foundation
Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities (GPcwd)

Contact: Amy Rauworth
Email: help@committoinclusion.org
Phone: 800.900.8086