Haylie Wrubel, the Special Olympics senior director for global education, will be among representatives to visit Jamaica this week to observe the Unified Champion Schools programmes across the island.

Through the visit Special Olympics said it seeks to “recognise the Jamaican Government and local partners for their long-standing support of the organisation’s programmes, which has benefited nearly 4,000 people with intellectual disabilities”.

While in Jamaica, the representatives, in tandem with Special Olympics Caribbean Initiative, will also meet with programme leaders from Bermuda, St Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago to provide guidance and support for a similar Unified Champion Schools roll-out in those territories.

“Jamaica has been a great partner, and there are many, many young people who would not have had access to a quality education without the willingness at the top to do whatever it takes to expand opportunity to every student,” Wrubel said.

“Working together to deepen our partnership shows the international community that, in Jamaica, those with intellectual disabilities are not just included but centred in post-COVID education recovery efforts,” the Special Olympics senior director added.

The Unified Champion Schools programme, sponsored by the European-based Stavros Niarchos Foundation, promotes social inclusion by combining young people with and without intellectual disabilities for sport competition, educational and youth leadership projects, and other activities.

Unifying the students through these activities builds awareness, fosters inclusion, and can help to bring about behavioural change.

The Special Olympics International team is scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on Monday, ahead of site visits across the country on Tuesday. Organisers will host a press conference on Wednesday before closing out with the staging of a Unified Football Rally on Thursday.

The Special Olympics movement aims to break down barriers that exclude people with intellectual disabilities, such as autism and Down’s 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.