VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews.id, Jakarta: CEO of Special Olympics, Mary Davis said that the Asia-Pacific region is important for the development of the intellectually-disabled olympics. According to her, the region is full of "large countries", one of which is Indonesia.

“Yeah, this region (Asia-Pacific) is critical to the whole development of Special Olympics globally. It's got some of the largest countries in the world. If you look towards India, or Bangladesh, or Indonesia, Australia... so (does) large programs and some great programs as well," said Mary in a special interview with RRI Voice of Indonesia amid the 2023 Regional Leadership Conference (RLC) 2023 of Special Olympics Asia-Pacific in Jakarta, Saturday (04/11/2023).

With so many large countries in the Asia-Pacific, Mary mentioned the need for a Special Olympics program and strong leaders. He believes that strong programs and leaders from Asia-Pacific can be role models for other countries, especially smaller countries.

“So in terms of the expansion of the Special Olympics globally, it's really important that we have strong programs and strong leaders, in each of those countries, because they then can be role models for other countries, maybe smaller countries, in terms of developing and growing their programs," she continued.

Mary also said that this conference was the first to be held after the Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, she hopes that RLC 2023 can restore the strength of the parties involved and make the Special Olympics stronger.

"This region (Asia-Pacific), in particular, has suffered more and lost more coaches, volunteers, and athletes (during the Covid-19 pandemic). So, today's conference in Indonesia is about how we can grow back (the strength of coaches, volunteers, and athletes) better, bigger, and stronger," she added.

The 2023 RLC, which was attended by representatives of Special Olympics athletes, volunteers, and coaches throughout the Asia-Pacific, was held from Friday (03/11/2023) to Sunday (05/11/2023). The agenda included the delivery of strategic plans, presentations, and self-development for each participant in various sessions. Apart from that, there was also a cultural evening presented by Special Olympics Indonesia with the assistance of the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports.