For Immediate Release
Special Olympics gains participatory status with the Council of Europe
Special Olympics, the world’s largest sport programme of year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with an intellectual disability, has been granted participatory status with the Council of Europe as from 28 December 2009.
With this status, Special Olympics will be able to actively contribute to the decision-making process at the Council of Europe and to the implementation of Council of Europe programmes.
“We are delighted with the confirmation of our participatory status with the Council of Europe,” said Mary Davis, Managing Director, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia. “We are looking forward to contributing in a highly participatory way to policies and programs that have an impact on the development on Special Olympics in Europe,” she added.
The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, covers almost the entire European continent, with 47 member countries. Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals.
Participatory status is granted to international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) that are particularly representative in the field of their competence at European level, and which through their work are capable of supporting the achievement of closer unity as stated in Article 1 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, by contributing to its activities and by publicizing its work among European citizens. Currently, approximately 400 INGOs hold the status.
Co-operation with INGOs holding participatory status takes many forms, from simple consultation co-operation on specific projects.
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Communications and Media Relations
Maureen Rabbitt
Director, Communications for Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia
mrabbitt@specialolympics.org
+353 1 6755715 (Ireland)
Communications and Athlete Leadership
Nolwen E. Grassin
Manager, Communications and Athlete Leadership
ngrassin@specialolympics.org
+32 2 5360910 (Brussels)