Here at Special Olympics (SO), we believe in taking on a coaching mind-set to empower youth to go forth and guide others as they learn and grow along their leadership journey.

Special Olympics Asia Pacific (SOAP) recently held the inaugural Regional Youth Leadership Summit, Youth for Inclusion (YFI) 2019 in Singapore. Bringing together close to 100 participants with and without intellectual disabilities from 14 countries gathering to brainstorm and explore potential solutions to create Smart Societies in the region – where cities and communities that are not merely tech-driven but also inclusive, people-first and community-centred.

Regardless of race, socio-economic status, gender, or disability, there are some commonalities faced by youth around the world. Through an issues-based approach the participants were invited to find innovative solutions to promote inclusion on the following topics:

i)                    Addressing Bullying and Isolation

ii)                   Strengthening Mental Health and Wellness

iii)                  Increasing Post-school Opportunities

12 SOAP Youth leaders exemplified what it means to be “youth-led” to all present at the summit. Formed by members from the Athlete Input Council, Youth Input Council, Sargent Shriver International Global messengers and volunteers, they gamely took on key-roles to develop their skills and leadership abilities.

From emceeing as a unified pair, planning and leading break-out sessions, organizing and facilitating team-building activities, giving presentation and speeches, advising group projects, speaking as topic experts on preparatory webinars, sharing their SO journey as living books in the Human Library activity, and supporting the smooth operations of the events – these were the myriad of roles embraced by these leaders.

For a comprehensive all-encompassing learning experience, participants were fully involved and immersed in the issues being surfaced even before the summit.

 

A Facebook Group was created as a platform to share resources through learning units and to host the webinars to prepare them for the topic-based discussions. This also allows the participants to stay connected and share project updates after the summit.

 

The series of three webinars featured domain experts including athletes Ben Haack, Board member, SO International; and Sebastian (Dacki) Sandiego, YIC Member, who shared their personal experiences alongside Dr Wei Ker-Chiah, Senior Consultant and Chief, West Region Institute of Mental Health on the topic of Strengthening Mental Health and Wellness; Elaine Chia, Director Good Pathways Singapore on Addressing Bullying and Isolation and Grant Javier, Executive Director, Project Inclusion Network on Increasing Post School Opportunities. They were well received, with many participants taking part in the conversation.

The Summit also engaged external partners across various industries looking to create impact by sharing skills and knowledge along with insights on the issues. They contributed through their various fields of expertise as speakers, project advisors, pitch presentation judges, workshop leads, walking tour guides, and setting up information booths.

The partners include:

Asian Development Bank; Adtomica; Credit Suisse; Character & Leadership Academy; Coalition Against Bullying For Children & Youth, Empire Code; Facebook APAC; FutuReady Asia Singapore; FWD Insurance; Good Pathways Singapore; Institute of Mental Health Singapore; Kantar North Asia, South East Asia, Pacific; KPopX Fitness; Plan International; Project Inclusion Network Inc.

The knowledge and learning were applied almost instantly as the teams got together over several sessions daily to form the strategy, hone their speeches as they presented to the roving panel of advisors from various organisations.

 

The event culminated in a pitch presentation by selected groups to the floor, where a panel of judges took the time to understand and evaluate the presentations, sharing their feedback on the projects ⁠— finessing the ideas so these youth leaders are able to activate them back in their home communities.

From left to right:

Raj Kamal, Manager, Applications, Facebook APAC; Wei Ker-Chiah (Dr.), Senior Consultant and Chief, West Region, Insititute of Mental Health, Singapore; Chris Morris, Head, NGO and Civil Society Center, Asian Development Bank; Adrian Gonzalez, CEO, Kantar North Asia, South East Asia Pacific; Kaitlyn Hamrick, Senior Manager, Youth Development, Special Olympics International; Ben Haack, Board Member, Special Olympics International; Sacha Eugster, Director, Credit Suisse

In celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities which coincided with Giving Tuesday and Giving Week, volunteers from FWD insurance and Kantar Singapore took the time to guide the participants on an evening walking tour around the civic district – getting active while exploring the city, making new friends and fond memories.

The Youth for Inclusion summit has been an ideal platform to bring various groups together with the same goal to catalyse social change within and expand the movement to communities all over. The twelve participating teams from the SOAP Programs will also be awarded a Youth Innovation grant for them to implement their projects.

 

This marks the first of many collaborative and youth-led events that SOAP is looking to 

organize and support regionally, nationally and locally. We look forward to working with YFI participants, Programs and partners to further the legacy of Youth for Inclusion 2019.

 

To view the full report click here.

There are many ways individuals and organisations can get involved with the various youth initiatives in Asia Pacific.

If you’d like to find out more about the opportunities feel free to reach out to us at soap.youth@specialolympics.org