2020 Paralympic Games: launch of a global campaign in favor of people with disabilities

A global campaign for the world's 1.2 billion people with disabilities was launched in Tokyo on Thursday under the leadership of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), supported by a wide range of international organizations. Named WeThe15 (“we the 15"), this campaign aims to be “the largest human rights movement” ever launched, representing 15% of the world's population with disabilities, according to United Nations figures. Bringing together organizations from the worlds of sport, human rights or the arts and supported by businesses, the campaign is launched less than a week before the opening of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo (24 August-5 September). “We think it's going to be a real game changer,” CIP spokesperson Craig Spence told AFP. “The Tokyo Paralympic Games can be a forum for that. It's unbelievable.” More than 125 monuments around the world, from the Empire State Building in New York to the Colosseum in Rome, will be illuminated on Thursday in the violet color adopted by WeThe15, which is inspired by other human rights movements such as Black Lives Matter or #MeToo. “We want to put disability at the center of the inclusion agenda,” said Mr. Parsons. “There has been so much progress in recent years in terms of racial, sexual, and gender diversity. But disability has been forgotten, even though it is at the crossroads of these three areas.”

AT A GLANCE

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