UNRWA organizes first sports festival for disabled children in the West Bank – UNRWA press release

UNRWA Organises First Sports Festival for Disabled Children

West Bank — UNRWA’s education department organised its first-ever sports festival for disabled children in Camp No. 1 near Nablus yesterday. Thirty children with special needs participated in the festival.

The Area Education Officer explained: “UNRWA does its utmost to integrate children with special needs into social, sports and cultural activities, and ensures they acquire their basic rights.” The festival was organised in cooperation with the local committee for a safe and encouraging school, and the local sports committee in the northern West Bank.

The festival brought children living in the northern West Bank together, and included competitions and other entertainment activities, in which children with special needs have proved their resilience and endurance in volleyball, gymnastics, and a marathon.

Nim’eh Mansour, a ten-year-old fifth grader, smiled while sitting on her wheelchair and added: “We ask to be treated equally and to be provided with opportunities so people can overlook our disability.”

The festival ties in with the Agency’s fourth strategic objective concentrating on children’s wellbeing, and ensuring human rights are applied to the fullest.

UNRWA is the main provider of basic education to Palestine refugees, accounting for half of its budget and two-thirds of its staff. The education recovery plan, launched in 2009, targets more than 56,000 students across the West Bank.

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Ilona Kassissieh
Public Information Officer

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Office: 02 589 0408