Building a friendly sports event participation environment The Sports Administration promotes the “Guidelines for Promoting Sports for People with Disabilities
To implement the core spirit of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the National Sports Act, and to achieve the policy vision of "encouraging sports participation for all groups," the Sports Administration (SA) officially launched the "Guidelines for Promoting Sports for People with Disabilities" on March 6. Deputy Director General Hung Chih-Chang hopes to assist event organizers in creating a friendly and inclusive sports environment, promoting equal participation for people with disabilities, and providing a tool for checking the upgrading of the friendliness of events, allowing people with disabilities to fully enjoy sports.
The "Guidelines for Promoting Sports for People with Disabilities" integrate both domestic and international professional experiences and case studies, aiming to improve the service capacity and quality of various events. They provide general recommendations for inclusive events during the pre-event, in-event, and post-event stages, covering aspects such as accessible venue planning, transportation arrangements, assistive device support, and event service details. The guidelines offer comprehensive execution reference to help event organizers not only to provide participation opportunities for people with disabilities, but also create a friendly and inclusive sports environment. The guidelines also provide specific planning suggestions and checklists for three popular domestic road running, cycling, and swimming sports events, with the aim of working together with event organizers to gradually optimize service details and integrate sports into the lives of all citizens.
Professor Chiang Yi-Cun, the chief editor of the "Guidelines for Promoting Sports for People with Disabilities" of the Department of Special Education at National Taiwan Normal University, stated that the release of these guidelines implements the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), calling on central and local governments, businesses, organizations, and every sports enthusiast to actively participate in achieving the SDGs' goals of "reducing inequality" and "promoting peace and justice." This is not just a practical handbook for promoting inclusive events and adjustments in sports activities, it is also a sincere call for equal sports opportunities for all, aiming to increase understanding and support for the participation in sports of people with disabilities.
Taiwan has made significant progress toward an inclusive and equal sports society. Recently, event organizers have frequently sought advice from the SA on details and matters for attention when providing services to athletes with disabilities. The SA stated that, to expand the effect and ensure appropriate services for interested events, it has specially prepared this handbook. The online version of the handbook is available on the official website of the Sports Administration (https://www.sa.gov.tw/PageContent?n=8725) and the "Sports Without Barriers" Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DisabilitySportsTaiwan/), and all are welcome to refer to and utilize it. To exhort more sports events to support this initiative, wheelchair basketball national team members Lin Po-hsun and Chen Yi-cheng, who have completed half and full marathons, attended to encourage more event organizers to support the promotion effort, hoping that every sports lover can participate without barriers on the same track.
SA Deputy Director General Hung Chih-Chang emphasized that the promotion of these guidelines highlights the importance of sports equality and also aligns with the vision of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) of "creating an inclusive world through Paralympic sports," and with " equal through sports" advocated by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) 2025 will be an important milestone in Taiwan's sports development, and as the Special Olympics' vision of "changing the world through sports" suggests, it is hoped that more events will establish dedicated categories or provide friendly services to enhance the participation experience of people with disabilities and achieve the goal of equal opportunities for all in sport.
