First national para-sport festival to be held in Ghana

"The festival will promote the Paralympic Movement in Ghana as well as create awareness on disability and para-sports in Ghana and the need for people to support para-athletes."

Ghana will become the latest country to host events aimed at raising national awareness of the Paralympic Movement, through a three day festival of para-sport in Accra from 11-13 December.

The event, organised by the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) and supported by the National Sports Authority and the Agitos Foundation’s Grant Support Programme (GSP), will involve over 200 athletes from the ten regions of Ghana.

Ignatius Elletey, Secretary General of the NPC said "The festival will promote the Paralympic Movement in Ghana as well as create awareness on disability and para-sports in Ghana and the need for people to support para-athletes."

After an Opening Ceremony on 11 December, demonstration events will be held for athletics, table tennis, wheelchair tennis, goalball, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and hearing-impaired football,

A media launch was held at the Accra sports stadium in November, with the NPC using some of the funding from the GSP for promotion.

The aim is not only to give people the chance to try these sports, but also to identify potential talent from amongst the public.

The festival, alongside Ghana’s participation in other Agitos Foundation programmes, led to the nomination of the Agitos Foundation for the 2014 Ghana Sports Excellence Award.

In 2014 the Grant Support Programme gave 650,000 EUR to development projects aimed at developing para-sport throughout the world.