Inclusive Sport Diplomacy: building international cooperation through Progetto Filippide experience (COSP19 Side Event)

Excellency, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to this side event during the 19th Conference of States Bodies of the CRPD.
It is entitled Inclusive Sports Diplomacy Building International Corporation through the Experience of the Philippi Project, 20 years after the adoption of the CRPD.
My name is Robert Venne.
I work at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Inclusive Social Development, and it is my pleasure to invite all of the speakers this afternoon as well as the audience.
I would like to start with Her Excellency, Ambassador Suela anina who is the permanent representative of Albania to the United Nations.
Please Madam, you have the floor.
Thank you very much for giving me the floor.
Excellency, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of the Permanent mission of Albania, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to this side event organized with the permanent mission of Italy.
I also am very pleased to be joined by my colleague, Ambassador Sberan Guzman of Cuba today.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our Italian colleagues, to the representatives of Proto Filipide and to all participants whose dedication and commitment have made this event possible.
As we know, sport has a unique ability to stressen barriers, foster mutual understanding, and create opportunities for participation and belonging.
For persons with disabilities, sport is much more than physical activity.
It is a powerful instrument for empowerment, self confidence, social inclusion, and full enjoyment of human rights.
In this regard, the experience of Project of Filipide stands as an inspiring example of how sport can transform lives.
Through its longstanding work with persons with autism and other disabilities, Project of Filipit has demonstrated that inclusion is not merely an aspiration, but a reality that can be achieved through commitment, innovation, and community engagement.
For Albania, this experience holds a specific significance.
Since the establishment of cooperation with Albanian institution in 2022, and I'm very pleased that this is the third year that we organize a side event like this in order to present this positive example.
The project has become a remarkable example of how international partnerships can create tangible opportunities for persons with autism and other disabilities.
Through collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sport, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the sports University in Tiana and more recently the University of Skodra, the initiative has helped establish inclusive sport programs, promote professional training and support the participation of Albanian athletes in international sporting events.
These achievements demonstrate that inclusion is not merely a policy objective, but a literality that can be advanced through commitment, cooperation, and the transformative power of sport.
The success of this project in Albania reminds us that the sport is far more than competition.
It is therefore fitting that we gather today to explore how inclusive sport can serve as a tool of diplomacy and international cooperation while advancing the objectives of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Albania remains committed to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities and to promoting inclusive policies that ensure equal opportunities and full participation in every sphere of life.
We are convinced that cooperation among governments, civil society organizations, sports institution, and international partners is essential to achieving these goals.
I'm confident that today's discussion will provide valuable insights, encourage new partnerships, and inspire further action in support for a more inclusive and accessible world.
Thank you to everyone for joining us today and I wish we have a fruitful and engaging discussion.
I thank you.
Thank you, Ambassador for this perspective from Albania.
The second speaker on my list is His Excellency Ambassador Ernesto Soberon Guzman, who is the permanent representative of Cuba to the UN.
Thank you very much.
Dear Modero, the distinguished ambassadors, Januga Greco and Suela ina, dear panelists and participants.
It is our deepest honor to be joining Italy and Albania in convening this side event to the 19 Comfort state parties to the CRPD.
In such turbulous times when peace, dialogue and diplomacy are needed more than ever, we are inspired by the prospect of sting cooperation in the field of sport and in creating opportunities to guarantee access to an enjoyment of sports by persons with disabilities.
Sports are universal language.
They are also an effective driving force in achieving peace, promoting sustainable development, combating all forms of discrimination, and strengthening international solidarity.
His practice has contributed to the inclusiveness of persons with disabilities all around the world.
Sports event for persons with disabilities, including local, national, regional and international multi sport events, has proven to be excellent initiative that contribute to the full realization of their human rights and their better integration into society.
To fulfill sports unifying role and strength cooperation between a state in this area, the Olympic ideal of fair play, no discrimination, and the non politicization of sports must continue to be the benchmark.
We thank the project of Philippe for continuing to bring so much satisfaction and positive resolve to children and youth with autism and their families around the world.
We acknowledge the positive outcomes of the project carry out in Cuba in partnership with UNDSA and UNICEF.
As well as its valuable contribution to the training of young Cuban athletes with intellectual disabilities and their trainings and teachers.
Initiative like this demonstrate just how much more can be achieved through international cooperation and solidarity in the field of sport for people with disabilities.
Dear colleagues, sports in Cuba are a hard won right of the people.
The outstanding international results achieved by underdeveloped and undersish country like ours underscore the importance above all of creating opportunity from an early age for everyone, including people with disabilities.
In addition to our positive experience with Proto Philippe, Cuba has a rich history of cooperation in sports backed by the work carried out by thousands of Cuban sport collaborators in more than 100 countries in response to requests received.
This cooperation has covered general sport training, community sports, and the comprehensive training of high performing athletes, including para athletes.
Cuba has also received cooperation in sport through the Tower of Technologies, capacity building, and the realization of other projects beneficial to Cuban people.
These projects have been carried out within the framework of bilateral initiative or through initiative promoted by the United Nations.
In all cases, the results have been encouraging and attest to the strategic importance of cooperation in sport as a means to be a better future for all, including for persons with disabilities.
Now I wonder how much more could Cuba contribute and receive if we were not limited by the huge shortage caused by the US economic war against us.
How much better could our athletes, including those with disabilities, have performed if they had been able to train and compete on an equal footing with athletes from other countries? The challenge we face are enormous as is our commitment to ensuring that all Cubans enjoy all their human rights, including the rights to practice sports.
We will continue to promote sport for the benefit of all, providing equal opportunities and access, particularly for people with disabilities.
We will continue to promote international cooperation and solidarity, including in the field of sport to ensure that no one is left behind.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Your Excellency.
And if I may add on a personal note, I have been to Cuba together with Project Filip, and I was very inspired by seeing how passionate both the trainers, the parents and children with autism were in your country.
The third speaker on my list is His Excellency Ambassador Gian Luca Greco.
He's the Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr.
Chair.
Ex dear friends, I wish to thank the co orators for convening this important meeting side events together with, of course, Philippe Project with whom we have an invaluable experience in these years.
We've had an invaluable experience this year, and it's always a pleasure to collaborate with.
This year marks a particularly significant milestones as we celebrate the twenth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
It's therefore especially fitting to reflect on the transformative role that sport can play in advancing the rights, participations, and inclusion of persons with disability.
Sport is much more than physical activity.
It's a universal language capable of bringing together across borders, cultural and social device.
It promotes dignity, self confidence, self confidence, teamwork, and mutual understanding.
Above all, it creates opportunities for participation and belonging.
The team chosen this year for the International Day of port for Development and peace, port, building bridges, breaking barriers, perfecory captures the spirit of our discussion today.
Sport has the unique ability to connect individuals and communities, fostering dialogue and cooperation where barriers once existed.
In this context, inclusive sports diplomacy offers an innovative and forward looking approach.
By placing inclusion at the center of international cooperation, Sport becomes not only a means of representation, but also a powerful instrument for social development, peace building, and the promotion of human rights.
Italy strong believes in the value of port as a vehicle for inclusion and social cohesion.
This commission is reflected in our longstanding commitment to promoting accessible and inclusive sporting opportunities for persons with disabilities, both nationally and internationally.
Today, we're particularly pleased to highlight the experience of the Philippe Project, an initiative that for over two decades has demonstrated how sport can become a concrete pathway towards autonomy, participation, and empowerment for persons on the autism spectrum.
What makes the Philippe project especially valuable is not only its impact on individual athletes and their families, but also its ability to create networks of cooperation involving institutions, local communities, universities, coaches, experts, and civil society organizations.
Its growing international dimension demonstrates that inclusive practices can be successfully shared and adapted across different cultural and social contexts.
This experience offers important lessons for all of us, and as we seek to strengthen international partnerships and promote the exchange of expertise in the field of disability inclusion.
At the heart of this effort lies a simple but essential principle.
Inclusion requires cooperation.
This is why collaboration among governments, international organizations, academic institutions, sports association, and civil society is so important.
By working together, we can multiply opportunities for participation and ensure that successful experiences such as the Philippe Project inspire similar initiatives around the world.
Inclusive sports diplomacy also contributes to broader international objectives.
It's thanks mutual understanding, promotes intercultural dialogue and reinforces the value of respect, solidarity, and equality that underpin the United Nations system.
As we commemorate 20 years of the CRPD, let us reaffirm our shared commitment to ensuring that no one is left behind in the world of sport.
Together, we can ensure that sport remains a bridge between people, a driver of inclusion, and a powerful force for positive change.
I thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Ambassador.
Now let's move to the second segment of this side event, which is the panel discussion.
The first speaker is my dear colleague doctor Nicola Pintos of Project Filipide who will speak and then show us also a video.
Thank you, Mr.
Moderator.
Now I speak in my original language, Italian.
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Hello.
We are doctor Maj Hamuda, President of UTM, Germany Dual Atanisia.
We are extremely honored and highly pleased with our participation in the run for autism marathon.
This marathon took place for the third consecutive year with the commemoration of Project of Philippine.
This marathon has had positive and powerful impacts on our kids.
In the frame of their education and the creativity, as well as their social and professional integration, which we are starting within a piece for work.
Thank you.
Thank you, doctor Pintus for both the presentation and the video presentations.
I welcome now doctor Roberto Cuesta, who is the country manager of ITA Airways.
The floor is you, sir.
Thank you.
So thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr.
Venna.
A very special thanks to Pretto Fiilre for having us as a guest and also for Nikola.
Very much appreciated to let and to inform everyone what it Airways is doing with autism and also what we're offering our passengers on the plane.
The Autison program that we have at Eta Airways is part of the initiatives outlined in our sustainability plan.
Sustainability is a cornerstone for E Airways and the industrial P and it's very much done in line with the United Nations sustainable development goals.
We're dedicated to operating with this increased respect for not only the natural and the human environment, but we want to incorporate these ESG principles into our corporate governance.
Eth Airways joined the ANAC project Autism Traveling Through the Airport in partnership with the National Association of Parents of People with Autism.
Here, the objective is to help people with autism experience the unique journey traveling and also to make it as much of a normal impact for them as well as they go and have a greater awareness for it.
For the implementation of it, something that we've worked very hard about in not only providing the airport experience, but also the travel experience and also when you land.
This short video will give you an idea of how we do that.
I I So the goal of the autism program is to have these families who are traveling with any passenger who has autism, to get them familiar with departure.
If you think about the phases of travel, before you fly, during, and the after, that is very much the environment that we are recreating for them.
One, when they go to check in, and this is available to anyone who opts for it, One, when they go check in and they meet the agents at the gate, check in bags, that whole experience.
Then also what you just witnessed, which is the actual flight simulator that could be booked for these passengers, almost giving them a in the air experience before they travel to make them more comfortable.
And then also at the airport after the whole retrieving of baggage and custom situation, immigration situation when there is a crowd in order, once again, to familiarize them with that experience.
At the end of this session, the participants receive a ready to fly certificate.
And just to give you some statistics on as well, from June 22nd to May 2026, 44 FAM trip sessions have been held with a total of 977 participants.
We also offer discounts to all these passengers also for flying.
So from journey to travel experience, this is in short, what we do.
From booking to arrival at the airport, priority security checks.
This is actually the day of travel when they do when the families do travel on Amica PRN lounge service.
So in other words, waiting for the boarding to open.
We are offering priority boarding seat assignments towards the front rows with special crew assistance, priority disembarkation and priority baggage delivery.
Again, the idea here is ease, ease of travel, ease of making the journey a non issue.
Going back to the easy thing as well, we have is one click away.
So if you go to the website and you want to book it, it's not very hard to find.
It's something that you go tos.com.
You can click, you can book it, and this will have assistance for passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility.
This has also been done in collaboration with NNEC and AAA, and it's co designed with sector associations for consistency and accessibility.
Lastly, we also have a safety briefing card.
This is to enhance safety and inclusion through multisensory onboard information.
This is probably a more easy to read, much more interpretive IT, a word has braille for visually impaired passengers, high contrast text, and it provides essential information for safety in the procedures that we have on the aircraft.
With that, thank you very much.
This autism program is again, an open tending one, it's pre bookable, and I appreciate all the time.
Thank you, doctor Cuesta, for this example from the corporate world and as it relates to travel for persons with disabilities and especially persons with autism.
The next person is doctor Pierre Angelo Capa.
He's the president of World Autism of the World Autism Organization, Flores.
Good afternoon, everyone.
First of all, I want to thank all the organizer of this event for the opportunity to share some reflection and topics that I consider particularly important.
My name is Peerangelo Capai.
I'm the president elect of the World Autism Organization.
For many years, I have worked alongside the Autisk people and their families to promote inclusion, self determination, independent living, and quality of life.
Over the years, I have had the privilege of seeing autistic people cross cities, nations, and continents.
I have seen people who many consider too fragile, walk hundreds of kilometers, travel along the Via Francia, the Camino Santiago, and the pilgrimage routes in Japan, encounter different cultures, and build relationships that went far behind language, geography, and individual difference.
It is through this experience that I have come to believe deeply in the value of sport as tool for human rights and international cooperation.
Through my travels and my exchanges with family, association, and professional from different countries, I have come to understand a reality that we cannot that we cannot ignore.
Autism is everywhere, but opportunities are not.
There are autistic people who have access to service, educational pathways, sporting activities, and well structured life projects.
There are others who live in contests where families face everything on their own without adequate support and without being able to look to the future of their children with confidence and hope.
The inequality should concern all of us because human rights cannot depend on where a person is born, on the economic circumstances of their families or on the resources available in their country.
Human dnity is universal and opportunities for participants, growth and inclusion must be universal as well.
For this reason, I see sport as much more than a recreational activity.
I see it as a powerful tool for building autonomy, relationship, self confidence, and above all, a meaningful life project.
For many autistic people, the goal is not to run faster or to win a medal.
The goal is to discover that they can face a challenge, share an experience with others, feel part of a community, and begin to imagine a future that until recently seemed out of reach.
In my experience, I have seen people who struggle to be part of a group, learn how to collaborate with others.
I have seen people who were afraid to leave undertake international journeys, and I have seen genuine friendships emerge and growing independence transform not only the lives of people without themselves, but also the lives of their families.
This is the great lesson that experience such as Project of Filipire continue to teach us.
Sport does not only change the way a person lives, it changed the way a community perceive abilities, potential, and the contribution that every individual can make.
This is why I believe that inclusive sports diplomacy represent an extraordinary opportunity today.
Through sport, we can create connection between country, share expertise, build international networks, and promote a culture of rights that leaves no one behind.
As I prepare to assume the leadership of the World Autism Organization, I feel a particular responsibility.
Every time I meet a family from different countries, I realize that although language, culture, and welfare systems may differ, ops remain the same.
Families everywhere want opportunities, dignity, participation, and the future for their children.
The difference is that not everyone has access to the same tools and opportunity to achieve these goals.
20 years after the adoption of the UN Convention of the Right of Persons with Disabilities, our task is not only to celebrate the progress that has been made.
Our task is to continue building alliance, sharing knowledge, and supporting communities and country with fewer resources.
So that the rights to sport participation and full citizenship becomes a reality for people with autism everywhere in the world.
If we succeed in doing this, we will not simply promote inclusive sport.
We will have contributed to build a fair reward in which rights are truly universal and no one is left behind.
Thank you.
Thank you for your statement.
The last speaker during the panel discussion is Mr.
Henrich Shabani.
He's the ombudsman of Albania.
Ambassador Guzman, Ambassador Greco, doctor Pintus and colleagues from Proga Filip.
I believe every society makes a quiet decision about disability.
It decides whether a life with a disability is a life to be managed or a life to be lived.
That decision is rarely announced, but is always made in the design of a school, in the layout of a public square, in the areas of a public bus serves or in whether a child is welcome to a school or not.
Sports forces the decision into the open.
In almost every other setting, a person with a disability can be treated as someone who needs to be cared for, but sports refuses that.
The person stops being an object of care and becomes a participant, and that is a demonstration of dignity.
Porgto Philiipide is a method built in Rome that has reached Tirana, and from what I understand other countries and continents.
This is the a quiet power of a working model.
It crosses borders more easily than policies do.
Because it carries its proof with it.
In Albania, a cooperation now exists between Italian and Albanian partners through which young people with autism train and compete, some of them in Rome on the same course as thousands of others.
As the ombudsman of Albania and the head of its national human rights institution, my work is to monitor the implementation of this convention and to measure the distance between the right as it is written and the right as it is lived.
My contribution to this panel, therefore is not just the admiration for this model, but to focus on what needs to be done next.
I would point to three things.
First, I believe that governments need to anchor this method in institutions, not only in events.
A race is a moment.
A national framework that trains instructors, includes schools and reaches beyond its capital is a structure and governments need to fund the structure, not just the celebration.
Secondly, sport bodies and partners need to solve the practical barriers.
Athletes with disabilities still face obstacles to travel, such as the difficulty to obtain sports visas.
Cooperation that is serious shows up in logistics, not only in declarations.
And third, institutions like mine, as the bodies that monitor this convention, can be the bridge between a sports program and the public authorities responsible for disability rights.
Only in this way does what begins as a project turn into policy.
We should also make sure that we know who these programs reach, who they will still leave out, and whether access is real or only announced.
RM, for instance, can often be announced but never be built.
But the starting line is an observable fact.
Either a person is on it or they are not.
Let me close with the word that this convention chose participation, not protection, not care, participation.
Because to protect a person is not yet to respect them, and the deepest respect is to assume that they will take part.
In mythology, Phipides is remembered not for running fast, but for carrying a message that mattered.
I believe that the athletes that these projects puts on the start line carry a message too, that a person with a disability is not a problem to be managed, but a participant to be included.
The often the task of the states is to build as many starting lines as possible and then to get out of the way.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Ciabni.
Now, I call on Mr.
Simone Rossetti, who is the Secretary-General of the Italian Paralympic Committee.
Thank you, Mr.
Rossetti.
Actually, we still have around 20 minutes.
So before we move to the closing remarks, I would actually invite the participants of this side event, whether they have any statements or any questions to the panelists to the speakers, please.
And if you identify yourself before you speak.
All right.
Well, thank you very much.
My name is Ry Marcu.
I'm a TD or parliamentarian from Ireland.
I'm on the Disability Matters Committee, and look, I have a particular interest in this issue.
I would probably say that technically this probably isn't so much about sports diplomacy, which is a very different thing, I believe, but it is about the power of sport and obviously, you've spoken about particular projects and the impact that they can have.
And in fairness, I think this man got it right around the issue as regards participation and being fully involved in society.
Look if I was to take a bit from all the interaction and events over this particular conference.
Obviously, the big one that people get into is the idea of mainstreaming and that we just have reasonable accommodations as much as possible built in to all our systems across the board that we make it as easy as possible.
Now, that's reasonable.
That won't include every person with a disability.
But if we can deal with the majority and then we can have whatever solutions we need for those that have greater level of challenges.
That's universal design.
It's the whole shooting match.
But what I wanted to talk about because it was a particular project that I became involved in accidentally almost.
It's like I'm from County Loudam I'm from Dock is the particular place.
It's a disability cycling club.
And the idea of it was very simple.
It was a number of people who were in a cycling club, a different one, and they literally started doing tandem rides for those with visual issues, and in some cases, people who are fully blind.
And then they wanted to expand it.
And so they ended up getting and like, all these things generally down to one person being an outlier and putting in a huge level of work and probably using all the resources from his workplace, you know, to get this running.
That's, you know, van, storage, all the rest of it.
So he ended up getting a huge level of fundraising, and people were very good.
And you started getting bikes that's tri shows you dealt with you dealt with children and adults, those with mobility issues, some of them in wheelchairs, you dealt with particularly kids with autism and you created these scenarios, let's say on a Tuesday afternoon or Tuesday morning to early afternoon, you would have a number of service users, a terrible word, but who would be in day services, would come to the square in Nundk and would be taken for cycles and some of them would use bicycles themselves.
And and I saw ones who would have used disability cycles that then would have facilitated them to use proper bicycles later.
You also then would do the same sort of events on, let's say, Wednesday evenings in a park where you would have whole families who would come together.
So and And whereas you're dealing with families that I as a politician, would have dealt with around services that they couldn't get as regards assessment, therapies, issues that they had in relation to appropriate places in school.
But this was a really, really good fun event for them, for their children, for their other children who would be there also who may not have the same disabilities.
I never saw something take off as much.
In fairness, I'm an opposition politician.
I would usually give out about the government for everything.
But the Health Service executive, basically, the Department of Health and has now provided money because they saw the benefits that were being provided in this and they decided to put it in a more sustainable basis.
I think it's something It's that idea of it's almost called alternative respite.
That is finding something that is fun, that is useful, that is enjoyable for people to do and it's also you're doing this in the center of towns.
You're being part of the wider community and you get serious serious buy in.
It almost fits into some of the projects you've spoken about there.
I just said, given the context, I couldn't leave here without mentioning it.
As per normal, I've spoken for longer than I intended.
I am very sorry about that.
But I think it is the idea because what you're speaking about earlier is best practice and best practice that works and it is about empowering people.
It is about ensuring that we get to a stage where people can participate in every aspect of society and sport and enjoyment and having a real fulfilled life is what it's all about.
Gv, thank you very much for this opportunity.
Thank you for this example from the Republic of Ireland.
Sir, please.
Thank you very much for your wonderful facilitation.
My name is Frank Son Mosuo.
I'm the Director General of the Zama Agency for Persons with Disabilities.
I just want to congratulate as well as appreciate all the facilitators on the panel with a very interesting topic about commemorating 20 years of the CRA PD.
And then in accordance with Article 30, I think the achievement of inclusive sports have not yet been spread to many countries because there are so numerous challenges that are faced.
I just want to find out from the panelists, especially for the ambassador who had to explain about the national sports.
Is there a budget that is targeted about inclusivity sports for personal disabilities? I thank you.
Hey, I think this is for the ambassadors.
Do you? No.
Let's see, Yeah, well, of course, here, I'm under the control of those that work with the funding, but I'm sure I'm confident that in the Italian budget, there is for the budget that goes to, for example, to the Paralympic organization or to other organizations.
And then there is a lot also at local level in Italy.
What is specific again, if doctor Pintus has something to add, I'm very happy to share the microphone.
But we have also important budgets that come from the local authorities, especially at the regional and the municipality level.
And those are the government levels that are more in touch, of course, with the reality on the ground.
And often they kind of complementary competence on this kind of subjects.
And actually, these implies also some territorial disparities, of course, because then local authorities are not the same all over the country.
But again, the role is growing, and I think that is one of the most important tools that we can deal with in Italy.
But again, please, if you given your personal experience.
Yeah.
Thank you.
But I speak Italian.
It's better.
Thank you for your responses.
We have almost reached the end of a lot of time here in this conference room, so I would like to invite now doctor Bailo Luca, who is the Director General of Project Fliide to deliver his closing remarks for this event.
Excellencies, the delegate.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, thank you for being here.
Thank you for your work.
Thank you for your words.
The CRPD born in 2006 and today we celebrated the CRPD in 2026.
This is the time of this torch.
Thank you.
This concludes my list of speakers for this side event.
But before we close, let me thank again the co sponsors, Permanent Missions of Albania, Cuba, Italy, as well as Prota Filipide.
Thank you so much for organizing this, and I think it was interesting for the audience and it was very interesting for me too.
Thank you.