Kilmacud Crokes Healthy Club - UN International Day of Person with Disabilities

Today is UN International Day of Person with Disabilities: Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality

Today, the world population is over 7 billion people. More than one billion people, or approximately 15 per cent of the world's population, live with some form of disability. 80 per cent live in developing countries.

What disability means

- A disability is a condition or function judged to be significantly impaired relative to the usual standard of an individual of their group. 

- This can Include: physical impairment, sensory impairment, cognitive impairment, intellectual impairment, mental illness, and various types of chronic disease. 

- Persons with disabilities, “the world’s largest minority”, have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. 

- This is largely due to the lack of services available to them (like information and communications technology (ICT), justice or transportation) and the many obstacles they face in their everyday lives. 

- These obstacles can take a variety of forms, including those relating to the physical environment, or those resulting from legislation or policy, or from societal attitudes or discrimination.

- People with disabilities are at much higher risk of violence. Factors which place people with disabilities at higher risk of violence include stigma, discrimination, and ignorance about disability, as well as a lack of social support for those who care for them.

Inclusive Society: Why & How

- Evidence and experience shows that when barriers to their inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits. 

- Accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities are fundamental rights. 

- Persons with disabilities are should have equal access to all aspects of society, for this we must identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers to accessibility.

On this International Day, we recognise the need to work together for a better world that is inclusive, equitable and sustainable for everyone, where the rights of people with disabilities are fully realised.

At Kilmacud Crokes, we can be proud that we have started on this journey. We have an Executive who are committed to Disability Inclusion in Sport and Inclusion through Sport. We have Coaches who are inclusive, when they give a child a little 1:1 to help them develop a skill or notices when a child doesn't like the loud whistle. 

We have a Disability Inclusion focus group, that operates under the Healthy Club Programme, who are working to identify and eliminate barriers to inclusion. 

You will have seen Orla Reck being presented with the JP Mc Manus Cheques, Fun and Run Programme, Sensory Friendly Santa and various education evening on Disability Inclusion. 

If you are interested in joining the Inclusion Group please email healthyclub@kilmacudcrokes.com. No Experience is necessary!

For more information on International Day of Person with Disabilities please check out: http://www.un.org/en/events/disabilitiesday/index.shtml