Africa

Players and teams across San Juan, Puerto Rico, woke up energised after last night’s spectacular Opening Ceremony that officially launched the first-ever Special Olympics Unified 3x3 Basketball World Cup. From 5 – 7 December, 180 players from 27 countries will take to the courts at Distrito T-Mobile, carrying not only speed and strategy, but a shared purpose that defines Unified Sports.

Burkina Faso Takes Bold Step for Inclusion and Empowerment

[Lausanne, Switzerland - 7 November 2025] Nestlé Health Science (NHSc) has announced a $2 million USD multi-year partnership with Special Olympics. The partnership will focus on Special Olympics Motor Activity Training Program (MATP), and the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® screening protocol.

Renewed engagement includes a USD 310,000 grant supporting inclusive programming across five regions.

“We have to focus on the invisible—the invisible challenges to health services and invisible people, like me.”

After an electric four days and 40 matches played, the inaugural Special Olympics Unified Volleyball World Cup crowns its first-ever champions: Special Olympics United Arab Emirates (Women’s) and Special Olympics Slovakia (Men’s/Mixed).

Kristofina Bartromeus, is using her background (playing/working) in volleyball and her education on coaching people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to prepare herself to coach her team in Poland for the Special Olympics Unified Volleyball World Cup.

Behind the scenes, another kind of work is quietly shaping these moments, Organizational Development (OD).

Special Olympics Senegal brought together athletes, families, partners, and supporters to mark World Youth Skills Day and International Youth Day.

New Memorandum of Understanding expands the Unified with Refugees project, harnessing the power of sport to promote opportunities for displaced communities and people with intellectual disabilities alike.