CHICAGO, Illinois — President and managing director of Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia David Evangelista says Jamaica’s unique, global impact in boosting awareness of the movement is almost unrivalled.

“Jamaica is one of the most exciting, electric success stories of our global movement,” Evangelista said during the just-ended Unified Football Cup in the United States, in which Jamaica won the division two silver medal.

“When you look across the world and you look at where countries were 20 years ago in relation to supporting people with intellectual disabilities and now, few would stand out as much as Jamaica.”

Through sport activities and competition, the Special Olympics International movement aims to break down barriers that exclude people with intellectual disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome, from mainstream society. The disabilities can either be acquired or genetic, and can also include cases of cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and some cases of developmental delay.

The unified sports programme, a focus of the Special Olympics movement, integrates people with intellectual disabilities and those without disabilities in training and competition.

Referencing Jamaica’s national motto, Evangelista hailed the role that Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ), through the guidance of Executive Director Lorna Bell, has played in championing the cause for inclusion.

“’Out of Many One People’ , and nothing says that louder than the growth and innovation that Special Olympics Jamaica has achieved over the last 20 years.

“Jamaica stands in a class of its own in terms of its ability to truly innovate and to truly make a national and global impact, and the support of Special Olympics International and regions like Europe will continue for years to come.

“We are incredibly impressed with the athletes, we’re impressed with the leadership, and we’re also very appreciative that the media there always engages us,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Evangelista, holder of a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in international business, worked for Special Olympics in a number of developing nations alongside the United Nations and governments, in a bid to nurture and sustain multi-national partnerships.

He said that during that time he discovered Jamaica’s commitment to the movement.

“I’m proud to say that one the first countries that engaged us was Jamaica. This dates back to 2005 when the national director Lorna Bell came to us for us to help invest in the health programme, and the reason for that — and it shows her leadership and the understanding of our mission — is that you really can’t be a competitive athlete unless you’re a healthy one.

“So we met with then Prime Minister P J Patterson, who sanctioned in every way the necessity of this health work. That meeting really did propel us and gave us a tremendous amount of confidence in the potential that Jamaica has,” said Evangelista, in charge of programme operations in over 50 countries in Europe/Eurasia.

Evangelista said the partnership with the Jamaican government spurred the growth of the athletes’ base through awareness, and helped the health programme by enabling the Ministry of Health to engage the country’s health professionals as volunteers.

“You certainly need political will and they have that — not only through Patterson, but through Portia Simpson Miller and Prime Minister [Andrew] Holness and others, and certainly through people like [former SOJ chairman] Dr Carlton Davis, who remains one of the strongest advocates for the rights of this population, not only in Jamaica, but worldwide.

“It speaks to the people of Jamaica because when you go on the ground you feel the energy. There is that feeling that they are going to solve those problems, they are going to do what needs to be done.

“There’s something about that country in relation to supporting the little man, there’s something about Jamaica in making sure the marginalised come into the fray that stands alone. I think we made a very good decision in bearing witness to the example that Jamaica gives, not only to the movement of Special Olympics but to the world that it may be a small country, but what it represents is gigantic,” he told the Observer.