National athletes from four major competition gather to call on people to support sports equality
To implement the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the National Sports Act and protect the rights of people with disabilities to exercise, the Sports Administration (SA) held the Together We Move sports equality press conference on November 29; and for the first time, a sports equality promotion video featuring top national athletes in four major international sports events, including Olympic athletics national athlete Yang Chun-han, Paralympics badminton national player Fang Jen-yu, Deaflympics tennis national player Lin Chia-wen and Special Olympics cycling national athiete Hsu Yu-tung, was publicly shown.
The film portrays athletes from diverse sports and body types tirelessly training with dedication, sweating, and occasionally shedding tears in rigorous focus. However, they all maintain their initial love for sports, persisting until the end, never giving up, embracing challenges, and experiencing a profound sense of accomplishment and joy. This embodies the spirit of "Together We Move."
The SA has made cross-department efforts to actively promote equality in sports for people with disabilities. In order to enhance sports opportunities for students with disabilities, the establishment of the Adapted Physical Education Development Center aimed to integrate resources from both physical and special education in 2022. Its objective is to promote integrated sports courses. Furthermore, the center provides ongoing guidance to local governments for enhancing barrier-free sports facilities, particularly through projects associated with the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program. From 2017 to 2023, more than NT$460 million was allocated as improvement funding; and through the "iSports Taiwan 2.0 Plan," the SA works with various counties and cities to provide more than 400 opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in sports activities every year. The SA promotes equality through videos, images, and text on major social media platforms, reaching over 10 million people this year.
In response to global competition in disabled sports, the SA initiated a long-term athlete preparation plan, fostering new talent, improving resources, and optimizing competitive prowess. Recent success at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou showcased initial results with 20 medals including 4 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 12 bronze medals. The SA remains committed to advancing these efforts, allowing Taiwanese athletes to excel on the international stage.
SA Director-General Cheng Shih-chung said that one of the five major policy visions expounded when he took office was to "encourage the participation of all social groups in sports".To protect the exercise rights of people with impairments, the SA promotes sports equality, subsidizes accessible sports venues, and implements policies to ensure barrier-free participation for everyone.
To improve access to sports resources for people with impairments, the SA introduced the Sports Promotion Video Series for People with Impairments. Covering sports literacy themes like cognition, emotion, skills, and behavior, the series caters to four main types of disabilities. With over a hundred videos on topics like sports knowledge, athlete stories, teaching, and extension exercise information, along with a Sports Competence Handbook for quick information retrieval, the SA seeks to set an example in promoting equality in sports for individuals with disabilities, encouraging wider understanding and adoption of this concept. The SA and the athletes called on the public to join the ranks of " Together We Move”.
