Abeer Anwar provides an update on disabled athletes in the region How successful has the Special Olympics Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region been in meeting its ultimate goal of raising the number of intellectually handicapped athletes in its programme from 20,000 in 2000 to 110,000 by the end of 2005? "It was and still is a big challenge but I think we have been very successful up until now," Ayman Abdel-Wahab, Special Olympics MENA managing director, said. "SO MENA faces a number of challenges, the biggest of which is the political situation and the conflicts in the region, affecting programmes in Iraq, Palestine and Sudan. "But in the first stage of our growth plan we increased the number of athletes from 20,000 to 30,000. The second stage we had a 61 per cent growth rate, increasing the number to 50,000 and in the third we jumped to 71,000 athletes. This where we stand eight months before the end of the year. "We have 29,000 athletes to go but this is not a problem especially since we have recruited a very good professional staff as a means to achieve our goal." Five years ago, in 2000, Special Olympics International advocated decentralisation after saying it wanted to double the number of intellectually handicapped athletes to two million by the end of 2005. According to the latest census of 2004, the number of athletes is 1.7 million athletes. Abdel-Wahab added: "It is a great achievement that a country like Iraq took part in all the international and regional events and that the country participated in the SO World Summer and Winter Games and the SO MENA Games in Tunis." The MENA region programmes, Abdel-Wahab said, are well established "except for Sudan which is still creating a programme of its own due to the international sanctions against the country." "I think in the coming phase, 2006-2011, we should talk a different language," Abdel-Wahab said. "We should concentrate on fund-raising. If we want to increase the number of athletes under the Special Olympics umbrella and reach out to the 170 million intellectually disabled in the world, we have to provide them with facilities and fulfill their needs but this requires a lot of money. Abdel-Wahab said restructuring the whole organisation including the seven continental regions should take place. "We are beginning a new phase and we have to begin a new page." Abdel-Wahab thought it important that either Latin America, Africa or MENA be given the chance to host the 2011 World Summer Games. "The Games were held in the United States, Europe and Eurasia. I think it is our turn now." He said either Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco or Qatar "could easily play a successful host to such Games." Concerning the fifth MENA Games taking place 11-15 November 2006 in Dubai, Abdel-Wahab said that for the first time the Games will include 10 sports, five old -- aquatics, athletics, table tennis, basketball and futsal -- and five new: equestrian, power lifting, bocce, badminton and handball."
