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Our Mission

A group of six people stood facing camera

The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), offering ongoing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and share gifts, skills, and friendship with their families, fellow athletes, and the broader community.

In Asia Pacific, we support over 550,000 athletes across 35 country programs, by providing them resources, capacity building support and a platform for their voices. We are committed to building sustainable, high-quality programs that advance the Special Olympics mission and global strategy to achieve inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

There are about 54 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Asia Pacific. This rises to as many as 200 million people with IDD globally. Our goal is to reach out to every one of them—and their families as well. Special Olympics Asia Pacific does this through a wide range of sports and competitions, leadership and skills trainings, health screenings and education, and fund-raising events. We also create opportunities for families, community members, local leaders, businesses, dignitaries and others to band together to change attitudes and support athletes.