International
Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) members from Asia and Oceania gathered
to discuss the future development of blind sports in the regions at the
recent IBSA Asia-Oceania Strategic Planning Conference in Manila, the
Philippines. Member nations from the two continents collaborated to identify
current challenges and reach agreement on a series of recommendations
aimed at maximising the opportunities offered to the blind to practise
sport.
The IBSA Asia-Oceania Conference brought together more than 50 delegates
from around 20 countries, and we were honoured to have Mavis Campos, ICEVI
East Asia Chair, address the meeting. The participants, representing countries
as diverse as Cambodia and Fiji (for the first time East Timor took part
in an IBSA event), were updated on the IBSA-ICEVI agreement and future
plans to strengthen relations at world and regional level. Ms. Campos
outlined ICEVI's intention to promote joint projects aimed at increasing
the opportunities provided to blind children to take part in sport. The
main aims of the gathering were to improve contact between member countries
and IBSA, and for members to exchange experiences on national programmes
and strategies. IBSA also hoped to strengthen relations between blind
sport organizations and National Paraylmpic Committees (NPCs) and reach
consensus on future initiatives aimed at promoting IBSA sports and getting
more visually impaired people involved in sport.
The principal problems the nations have to deal with are a lack of resources
and materials, a scarcity of volunteers, a lack of support from public
authorities and private sponsors and insufficient technical knowledge
of IBSA's sports. In addition, some countries pointed out that there is
little "sports culture" in some regions of Asia, and as a result
the practice of sports is not given the importance it deserves.
The agreed strategy to overcome these obstacles includes
the following:
- placing more emphasis on sports for the blind
and developing promotional strategies and tools to gradually raise awareness.
- tapping into existing networks, organizations
and facilities (e.g. ICEVI), taking advantage of these to increase sporting
opportunities in the regions.
- putting in place effective lobbying strategies
to ensure blind athletes are afforded the same level of support and recognition
as able-bodied athletes.
- promoting the health aspects of sports to encourage
increased participation.
- organizing a series of sports-specific technical
seminars in Asia and Oceania, with expertise provided by IBSA technicians.
In connection with the conference, IBSA Medical Director Dr. Georges Challe
chaired a highly successful medical seminar. The seminar was attended
by more than 40 local ophthalmologists who were informed of the IBSA classification
and medical policy. Through initiatives such as this, IBSA hopes to recruit
new international classifiers for future championships.
IBSA President Enrique PÈrez commented that "the conference
and medical seminar were a tremendous success. We now have to build on
the work carried out in the Philippines and make sure the strategy is
implemented if we really want to engage visually impaired people in Asia
and Oceania in IBSA sports. It's a difficult task, but we are looking
forward to seeing some real progress in the medium term. With ICEVI's
help I am convinced we can make it happen."
Given the success of the conference and seminar, IBSA hopes to repeat
the experience in other continents in the near future and we look forward
to ICEVI's participation and input. For further information on sports
for the blind, contact IBSA at ibsa@ibsa.es.