The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) today hosted a ceremony at the Village Plaza in the Paralympic Village during which a Paralympic Mural was inaugurated. The ceremony was attended by IPC President Andrew PARSONS, Tokyo 2020 President HASHIMOTO Seiko, Governor of Tokyo KOIKE Yuriko, and
Tokyo 2020 Village Mayor KAWABUCHI Saburo. The participants pledged to take the opportunity of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo to further promote the realization of a society inspired by the motto of ‘Unity in Diversity’, a society where there is no discrimination against people with impairments.
Athletes and others involved in the Paralympic Games will be able to sign the Mural in order to show their support for the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and their support for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Earlier this week, the IPC launched WeThe15 a 10-year-long campaign which aspires to be the biggest ever human rights movement to represent the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities.
The Murals were made using a traditional Japanese construction method called “tsugite”, in which different pieces of wood, each with a unique shape, are combined and connected. They aim to serve as a reminder of the importance of recognising “celebrating diversity, connecting people, and bringing harmony”.
The Paralympic Mural will be on display until the day the Paralympic Village closes, and will subsequently be
exhibited and stored at Tokyo Metropolitan Government facilities. KAWABUCHI Saburo, Tokyo 2020 Village Mayor, made the following greeting:
“There are no differences in nationality, gender or impairments. I believe that if we can create this Paralympic Village where everyone accepts and respects each other’s differences and individuality as a matter of course, the world will change in the same way. And I also believe that the signs of support and statements of the Paralympians gathering here, along with the Paralympic Murals, will be a message that will surely reach the 1.2 billion people with impairments around the world.”
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