(New York, USA) March 20, 2016: The Physical Activity and Sport Task Force (referred to as Task Force) of the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities (GPcwd) is pleased to announce the first-ever winners of the Inclusion by Design Impact Awards:

  • First Prize: The Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (RP) – Bangladesh
  • Second Prize: The Inclusion Club Ltd.
  • Third Prize: No Barriers USA

The award was set up to inspire and share practices around the world that demonstrate excellence and innovation in their approach to achieving more inclusion for children and adolescents with disabilities.

The Task Force, led by UNICEF, the Lakeshore Foundation, the Institute for Human Centered Design and the American College of Sports Medicine, received a total of 33 impressive applications from all corners of the globe. The applications were evaluated based on 7 criteria with support from a review panel made up of representatives from IFAPA, IPC, Special Olympics, UNICEF, UNESCO, the GPcwd, as well as a member of the GPcwd Youth Council.

First place prize winner, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Bangladesh, will receive US$1,000 for their innovative approach to creating lifelong friendships among children with and without disabilities through sport and play at the community level. They have developed a very simple system by which children with disabilities are the ‘gate keepers’ of low-cost durable sports resources (e.g. traditional games, board games, cricket sets, etc.). The resources are accessible to everyone and should children with and without disabilities wish to play with them, they have to do so in cooperation with the ‘gatekeeper’. The programme was started in 2014 and has reached more than 1,200 children with disabilities and another 3,000 without disability, from 25 schools and 60 villages.  CRP has captured information showing positive changes in the attitudes of the children in these communities, as well as among the community leaders, school management committees and local religious leaders. They have become champions of inclusion and stronger advocates for including children with disabilities in their communities. In the end, the children are coming together, creating friendships and themselves creating more inclusive communities, while learning together how to break down societal barriers including negative stereotypes and beliefs.  This programme also received a high score because it is simple to implement and easily replicable in other communities. For more information on CRP and the Access and Empowerment programme visit http://www.crp-bangladesh.org/index.php.

Second place winner, the Inclusion Club Ltd, will receive US$500.  The Inclusion Club was launched in July 2011 as a free online resource designed to share good practice in sport and active recreation focused on people with disability worldwide (http://theinclusionclub.com).  It includes unique audio-visual content, information, resources, ideas and tools to assist practitioners to include more people with disability in what they do. There are currently over 1,800 subscribers from 35 countries and easily accessible to anyone with access to the web.

The third place winner, No Barriers USA, will receive $250, for their innovations in making outdoor recreation accessible to people with disabilities in a variety of diverse environments. In 2006, No Barriers started the programme “Leading the Way”, in partnership with world-renowned blind mountaineer and No Barriers Board Member Erik Weihenmayer, that brings together youth of varying abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds to explore the outdoors. They have gone to remote places like the Grand Canyon, Peruvian Highlands, Kilimanjaro and the Peruvian Amazon. Many participants have sensory impairments and until this programme was established it was only a dream for them to engage in such outdoor activities and travel internationally to remote locations. The programme found innovative solutions for participants who are deaf and hard of hearing to re-charge their cochlear implants where there was no electricity or protect hearing equipment while taking part in activities such as whitewater rafting. For more information on the programme visit http://www.nobarriersusa.org/youth/programs/expeditions/leading-the-way/.

The award money provided by the Lakeshore Foundation and American College of Sports Medicine, is intended to further promote and spread the use or implementation of the innovation as one billion people in the world today experience disability, or about 15% of the world’s population.[1] At all stages of childhood and adolescence, participation in physical activity and sport has profound impact on overall growth and development and is an essential element of quality of life in childhood.[2] However, children with disabilities are 4.5 times less likely to engage in physical activity[3] and have a higher prevalence of obesity compared to their peers without disabilities, increasing their risk of life-altering secondary conditions.[4][5]

Throughout the upcoming year, the Task Force will share stories with the wider community from the top 10 finalists on its website, in publications and through webinars in support of the worldwide movement to foster physical activity and sport for all.

For more information on the award visit http://committoinclusion.org/innovation-challenge/  and please direct any questions to help@committoinclusion.org

[1] WHO and World Bank, World Report on Disability, 2011.

[2] Rimmer, J. H. and Rowland, J.L. (2008) Physical activity for youth with disabilities: A critical need in an underserved population, Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 11:2, 141-148; Allen J. et al. Strength training can be enjoyable and beneficial for adults with cerebral palsy. Disability and Rehabilitation, 2004, 26:1121-1127.

[3] Rimmer, J. H. and Rowland, J.L. (2008) Physical activity for youth with disabilities: A critical need in an underserved population, Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 11:2, 141-148; Allen J. et al. Strength training can be enjoyable and beneficial for adults with cerebral palsy. Disability and Rehabilitation, 2004, 26:1121-1127.

[4] Rimmer, J.H. & Rowland, Jennifer L. (2007) Obesity and Secondary Conditions in Adolescents with Disabilities: Addressing the Needs of an Underserved Population, Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 224-229.

[5] Lin J.D., Yen CF, Wu JL, Patterns of obesity among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in Taiwan. Journal of Applied Research Intellectual Disabilities 2005; 18, 123-9.