Why does Humanity & Inclusion (Handicap International) use sports for social change?

People with disabilities are still too often excluded from social activities, such as sports, culture and leisure activities, but also from other areas in life, such as education and employment. That is why Humanity & Inclusion (formerly known as Handicap International) uses sport as a vehicle to foster social change in the lives of people with disabilities in its work in developing countries across the world.

In the recent “Makani” project¹ in one of the poorest and underdeveloped areas of Cairo in Egypt, for example, the El Warraq community chose inclusive recreation activities as the most adequate tool for the empowerment of women and youth with disabilities. Through these activities youth, and more specifically women and youth with disabilities, got the opportunity to raise their voices and to lead their own choices. In addition to empowerment on the personal level, the community positively changed its perceptions towards the inclusion of people with disabilities, women and youth, and diversity in general.

Inclusive sports or adapted activities?

Sports, or other leisure activities, are a powerful tool to bring people from different backgrounds together and to foster social change. As people with disabilities are often socially excluded, we mainly focus on the development of inclusive activities where people with disabilities participate alongside with people without disabilities to promote social inclusion. In our projects we work on the individual level, focusing on physical, psychological and social development and well-being, but also on the community and society level by changing perceptions, structures and policies through capacity building, awareness raising, and advocacy.

Sports participation as main focus, or as tool for inclusion in other areas of life?

In our projects sports participation can be the main focus, or it can be a tool to improve inclusion in  other areas of life. In Bangladesh², for example, school-based and child-led inclusive sport activities are used to foster child development and to promote inclusive participation in education and the social life. Through participation in the activities children interact with others in a safe environment and will in this way challenge social barriers. Parents, caregivers and teachers play an important role in creating an enabling environment to promote the physical and psychosocial development and well-being of the participating children. 

Sports a tool for social cohesion and peace-building?

Humanity & Inclusion also recognises that sport can play an important role in fostering social cohesion, peace-building, reconciliation and conflict resolution. In Sri Lanka, for example, school and sport structures reflect the ethnic divisions in the country. Children from different ethnic backgrounds rarely participate together, and within these sports structures children with disabilities are often not included. The current “INSPIRE” project³ in the Eastern-Province Humanity & Inclusion, together with local partners, trains physical education teachers and community workers to design and implement inclusive sports activities to increase the participation of children and youth with disabilities. At the same time the project focuses on inter-cultural exchanges, for example by the organisation of sport camps where parents from different ethnical backgrounds will actively participate in the development of activities such as the preparation of meals together during the organised sport camps.

As we can see from these examples inclusive sport, culture and leisure activities can indeed play an important role in changing the lives of persons with disabilities, by empowerment on the personal level and by changing perceptions on the community and society level.