Sports can change lives of people living with disabilities

Sport is a powerful tool for the promotion of inclusion and the development of a positive self-image among the youth. For Shalel Tennah, marching into the opening ceremonies of the 2019 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi where she proudly represented her nation, Kenya, was a notable moment not only for her, but for millions of other young persons with intellectual disabilities.

Shalel’s moment as a strong and talented athlete on a global platform was an opportunity to focus on what a person with an intellectual disability can do, and not what they cannot. To the world, she represented a strategic direction long overdue, and one that spells significant progress for humanity.

Shalel went on to win gold in cycling, supporting an impressive medal count of her delegation of Special Olympics Kenya athletes. Beyond her strong performance and dedicated training, Shalel demonstrated a courage and determination fitting of a group of athletes known for their grit and perseverance in the face of daunting adversity.

As a female athlete with an intellectual disability, Shalel is using her platform to advocate for and create positive change for perhaps the most marginalised population in Kenya, and worldwide. Through the power of sports, she is able to demonstrate that people with intellectual disabilities possess the strengths, abilities and skills required for success.

Upon her return to Kenya, Shalel was asked to join the national Board of Directors of Special Olympics Kenya, harnessing the power of her voice and experience to recruit more athletes, and supporters, to her national platform of inclusion and affirmation.

She pledged her support as an official coach of the Special Olympics Kenya early childhood development programme-Young Athletes-in offering children with intellectual disabilities a chance to learn fine and gross motor skills, socialisation skills, and simple play. 

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Kenya took immediate notice of Shalel, and the powerful example she offers to the nation.

Across the world, and in particular the Global South, girls with intellectual disabilities often face compounded forms of stigmatisation, discrimination, and abuse at a rate significantly higher than girls in the mainstream.

According to UN reports, as high as 68 per cent of adolescent girls with intellectual disabilities face abuse before the age of 18. Worse still, girls with intellectual disabilities face an uphill battle in receiving justice when reports of abuse are issued, with their intellectual disability serving as an underlying cause to discredit their claims. Girls with intellectual disabilities deserve better. So do their families.

UNFPA and Special Olympics Kenya have taken up the challenge and are prepared to take a stand. Through an emerging national partnership model, the two organisations, in partnership with Lions Clubs International, are using the power of inclusive sports, and family health education, to turn the tide and expand upon a platform that has gained national, and global recognition.

The phenomenal synergy aims to rededicate to the potential, holistic rights, bodily integrity and dignity of girls with intellectual disability.  

Through the Special Olympics Unified Sports programme, bringing youth with and without intellectual disabilities on the same teams and the same pitch, Special Olympics and the UNFPA are dispelling negative stereotypes and replacing them with accolades fitting for any athlete: Dedication, responsibility, sportsmanship.

Social mobility

Girls with intellectual disabilities across Kenya remain largely invisible to their communities, placing them at increased risk of abuse, exploitation, and other forms of entrenched marginalisation.

The Covid-19 pandemic has deepened this plight, with social mobility restrictions and home confinement often plunging this demographic further into despair.

In this sense, grassroots sport and physical activity represent one of the strongest, and currently only, mechanisms to combat this marginalisation.

Shalel is a living example of the way in which sport can bring pride, and promise, to a group of girls yearning for their place at the table of global dialogue and decisions. 

UNFPA and Special Olympics are committed to using a UN-civil society partnership model to make sure the world not only celebrates Shalel-but follows her lead.

Dr Ademola is Representative, UNFPA, Kenya. Mr Evangelista is President and MD, Special Olympics Europe Eurasia