NPC Rwanda Wins Spirit of Sport Award

The National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Rwanda was presented with the Sport Accord 'Spirit of Sport' award during the Sport Accord General Assembly in April in London, Great Britain.

NPC Rwanda won the award for its development project 'Engineering the future and promoting Paralympic Sport in Africa'. International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven attended the Sport Accord General Assembly and received the award on behalf of NPC Rwanda.

In 2008, the IPC selected the NPC Rwanda as a target organization to begin an African Development Initiative. Through an awareness campaign together with Rwandan authorities in 2008, the NPC contributed to the decision of the Rwandan Government to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. For many years now, NPC Rwanda has become the lighthouse for sport development in East Africa and uses its technical knowledge to train others and thus to increase activities and regional competition possibilities.

Sir Philip Craven said: "I felt very honoured to receive this award on behalf of NPC Rwanda and the people of Rwanda. This award acknowledges the hard work and dedication that was put into this project by everyone involved."

The 'Spirit of Sport' Awards were created to commend the commitment and humanitarian spirit of SportAccord Members who have made an exceptional and lasting contribution to using sport as a tool for positive social change. Other award winners included FIFA, with its project 'Football for Hope' and Special Olympics with its project '2010 Special Olympics Regional Games'.