SYRIA / SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Twenty-three countries and over 2,000 athletes participate in the Special Olympics in Damascus. A host of regional and global partners and top patrons including First Lady Asma al-Assad gathered to highlight that children with disabilities have the same rights as all other children. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:14
• Production Date: 7 October 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: HUMAN RIGHTS; LEISURE; SPORTS
• Geographic Subject: SYRIA
• MAMS Id: U101007d

Description

STORY: SYRIA / SPECIAL OLYMPICS
TRT: 2.14
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 29 SEPTEMBER 2010, DAMASCUS, SYRIA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, kids running with trainers
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdulhameed Naser, Special Olympics Athlete:
“I haven’t been doing this for a long time because I didn’t know that there were sports for people with special needs.”
3. Wide shot, low angle, kids playing with ball and goal
4. Wide shot, kids running through hoops
5. Med shot, kids and parents
6. Med shot, boy clapping
7. Wide shot, athletes in wheelchairs during ceremony
8. Med shot, athlete waving
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nisreen Falyoon, mother of Special Olympics athlete Abdalla Falyoon:
“It’s indescribable how it felt for me, I felt as if his talent came out. And I’ve known for ages that people who suffer brain paralysis are talented in many ways. Society often thinks kids with disability cannot really participate, but with events like this they prove themselves capable of achieving many things.”
10. Wide shot, Iranian Special Olympics team waving
11. Med shot, Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad with child
12. Med shot, reverse of Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad with child
13. Wide shot, kid celebrating in front of Special Olympics crowd
14. Wide shot, kid running in race
15. Wide shot, putter throws ball
16. Med shot, two female workshop participants
17. Med shot, doctor with young athlete
18. Pan right, healthy athlete area
19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Douha Jumaa, volunteer, Regional Special Olympics:
“When they first told us that some kids with special needs will come and that we will be dealing with them, yes, I felt a little bit afraid because I have never dealt with them before.”
20. Wide shot, competitor’s lap of honor during open ceremony
21. Med shot, athletes waving
22. Med shot, Olympic flame
23. SOUNDBITE (English) David Evangelista, Senior Director, Multilateral Partnerships and Development, Special Olympics Inc.:
“I hope that what happened here in Syria is evidence of a brighter future for people with disabilities, and it is an example of the difference that UNICEF, when combined with other groups, can achieve if we all get together.”
24. Wide shot, Olympic ceremony and fireworks

Storyline

Special Olympics athlete Abdulhameed Naser is fairly new to the idea of sports for people with special needs.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdulhameed Naser, Special Olympics Athlete from Syria:
“I haven’t been doing this for a long time because I didn’t know that there were sports for people with special needs.”

Raising awareness about opportunities open to people with disabilities is one element fuelling UNICEF’s partnership with the Special Olympics.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nisreen Falyoon, mother of Special Olympics athlete Abdalla Falyoon:
“It’s indescribable how it felt for me, I felt as if his talent came out. And I’ve known for ages that people who suffer brain paralysis are talented in many ways. Society often thinks kids with disability cannot really participate, but with events like this they prove themselves capable of achieving many things.”

The 23 countries, 2,000 athletes, top-level patrons, including First Lady Asma al-Assad, and a host of regional and global partners demonstrates the renewed enthusiasm within the region for discussing the rights of people with disabilities.

The sporting events were key elements of the games but so were the specialist health and training initiatives.

The UNICEF chaired Youth and Schools information session took place within the Forum held alongside the games. Many events contributed to an incremental shift in attitudes in the humanizing of people with disabilities. A wide-ranging impact felt by Special Olympics volunteers.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Douha Jumaa, Regional Special Olympics volunteer:
“When they first told us that some kids with special needs will come and that we will be dealing with them, yes, I felt a little bit afraid because I have never dealt with them before. But as soon as you start talking to them, they take you as a friend and the barriers disappear.”

UNICEF has enjoyed a partnership with the Special Olympics since 2007, a relationship built on a shared desire to change negative attitudes towards children with disabilities.

Though challenges remain, the nature of the seventh Middle East and North Africa Regional Special Olympics shows the depth of the commitment within Syria in particular and the region in general, to the event’s core principles.

SOUNDBITE (English) David Evangelista, Senior Director, Multilateral Partnerships and Development, Special Olympics Inc.:
“I hope that what happened here in Syria is evidence of a brighter future for people with disabilities, and it is an example of the difference that UNICEF, when combined with other groups, can achieve if we all get together.”