Dubai 2019: A platform for the UN SDGs

The Dubai 2019 World Para Athletics Championships will mark the first time a major international sport event will provide a platform for the promotion of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). 

The announcement was made on Thursday in Bonn, Germany, during the International Paralympic Committee Conference. 

The IPC and the UN SDG Action Campaign signed a Statement of Intent in a commitment to increase the visibility of the SDGs throughout the Paralympic Movement and the Paralympic Games.

The SDGs emblem will be used to brand all athlete bibs at the World Para Athletics Championships in November.

In addition to that, spaces around the field of play in Dubai will be provided to raise awareness of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  

“Our aim is to use the World Para Athletics Championships to showcase our support of the Sustainable Development Goals to a global audience,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said.

Parsons signed the agreement together with UN SDG Action Campaign Director Marina Ponti.

“We are honoured that the Paralympic Movement and Para athletes are adding their voices and showing their support to the Goals. Working together we will make sure we leave no one behind,” Ponti said.

Recently retired three-time Paralympic champion Kurt Fearnley also took part in the Conference and celebrated the announcement in an emotional presentation.

“When we look at the Sustainable Development Goals, disability sits in every single one of them. If you can’t see it, I gotta say, pretty hard to beat it,” the Australian wheelchair racer.

Dubai 2019 will take place from 7 to 15 November with more than 1,400 athletes from 120 nations. 

The competition will be showed live on the Dubai 2019 World Championships website and World Para Athletics Facebook page.