EN SUS MARCAS, LISTOS... INCLUSIÓN

On 4 April 2016 the Agitos Foundation, together with the Inter-American Development Bank, the Colombian Presidential Agency for International Cooperation (APC-Colombia), Colombian Administrative Department of Sport, Recreation, Physical Activity an Effective use of Leisure Time (Coldeportes), the ministries of sport and National Paralympic Committees of Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru and Nicaragua and the International Paralympic Committee launched the project “En sus marcas, listos… Inclusión”.

The objective of the project is to reinforce the national Paralympic structures in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru and Nicaragua and regional integration, facilitating access of people with disabilities to practicing sport, and as a result, favour its social and economic inclusion.

Through the exchange of experiences, homogenisation of access routes to Para sports practice and the creation of a regional training program, the aims are to increase the number of people with disabilities with access to sports and to improve the level of athletes. These athletes will represent their countries and inspire society with their actions, redefining the social role of people with disabilities and breaking down barriers to facilitate social inclusion.

By strengthening these inclusion mechanisms, synergies will be established with governments and the private sector, promoting effective measures that favour equal opportunities in access to rights.

On 26 August 2019, during the Lima 2016 Parapan American Games, the  Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Agitos Foundation have launched a new phase of the project, which will extend the strategy to use Para sport as a tool for social inclusion in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and the Dominican Republic, where 16 vulnerable communities have already been identified.

This component of the initiative represents USD 740,000 to be funded by the Japan Special Fund Poverty Reduction Program (JPO) and to be executed by the IDB Social Sector together with the Agitos Foundation between 2019 and 2022.