End of Special Olympics Inclusion must be part of global politics

Press release of 25 June 2023 | Special Olympics in Berlin ending today: Development Minister Svenja Schulze, who will be representing the German government at the Special Olympics closing ceremony, pledged today to continue efforts at the global level to advance the rights of people with disabilities. In 2025, Berlin will be hosting another important event: the Global Disability Summit, a global political summit for people with disabilities, will take place in Berlin in April 2025.

Special Olympics opening ceremony at the Berlin Olympic Stadium

Minister Schulze said, “This has been a week full of remarkable athletic achievements. But what I see as the biggest achievement is that, thanks to the Games, the topic of inclusion is now more on people’s minds and in their hearts. All people must have the opportunity to participate equally in social and economic life. Now that athletes from all over the world are leaving Berlin again it is on us to further global efforts to promote inclusion both in Germany and worldwide. There are roughly one billion people living with a disability, who are still far too rarely the focus of attention. We want to change that by working together to eliminate barriers, including those in people’s minds.”

Germany has joined forces with Jordan to co-host the Global Disability Summit in 2025. Jordan is regarded as a pioneer in promoting inclusion, for instance with regard to accessibility. The summit has a development purpose, which is effectively realising the human right to inclusion through cooperation with the countries of the Global South.

Inclusion is one of the overarching goals that the German Development Ministry (BMZ) is working to achieve through its projects. In addition, there are more than 130 projects directly aimed at advancing the rights of people with disabilities that are being implemented by the BMZ in different countries.