Mini-Paralympic games in Kosovo
It is estimated that there are over 150,000 people with disabilities in Kosovo. Coming from many different communities, with different cultural and religious backgrounds, they all share similar challenges, often living on the margins of society.
The Kosovo Mini-Olympics for young people with disabilities are an opportunity to fight prejudice and let these members of society show what they can do. Organized by Kosovo’s Para-Olympics Committee and the Academy for Public Safety, they have been held annually in Kosovo since 2005. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo has been supporting them from the start.
The games take place in the town of Vushtrri/Vucitrn, in the north-western part of Kosovo. This year, they were held on 16 and 17 June and gathered 450 young people with disabilities and their families, who competed in wheelchair races, basketball, handball, shooting, artistic drawing, darts and chess.
We as a society - and this includes people with disabilities as well - have the responsibility to recognize, acknowledge, appreciate and respect the abilities of all people, suppress prejudice and see people for what they really are.
“By competing with your peers, some with and some without disabilities, you will be sending out a very important message to the whole of Kosovo, that you are all very important and contributing members of society and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” said Carsten Twelmeier, Director of the Department for Security and Public Safety at the OSCE Mission to Kosovo, at the opening ceremony.
The opening festivities saw Kosovo police officers dancing with participants. Developing understanding between the police and people with disabilities is one of the purposes of the event.
“We as a society - and this includes people with disabilities as well - have the responsibility to recognize, acknowledge, appreciate and respect the abilities of all people, suppress prejudice and see people for what they really are,” said Njomza Emini, the head of Kosovo’s Para-Olympics Committee.
The games begin with the wheelchair race, which is widely covered in the media. It is open to teams of male and female participants with physical disabilities. The number of participants per team varies depending on the scale of disability. The team with the highest number of participants making it to the finish line is declared the winner.
The skills and talent displayed by Mini-Olympics participants in this wheelchair basketball game were clear proof that there is no room for prejudice.
Apart from being a chance to compete, the Mini-Olympics are also an opportunity to make new friends, share experiences and learn new things.
Some of the chess matches pitted players with players without disabilities. In this one, the blind player beat the odds to achieve a draw against his sighted opponent.
The OSCE’s project manager, Shpresa Muharremi, congratulated racers at the closing ceremony of the Mini-Olympics.
Twelmeier pledged the OSCE’s further support. “The Mini-Olympics are a perfect example to show that all is possible if you put your mind to it and if society as a whole is open minded and accepts differences,” he concluded.