Twelve NPCs gathered in the German city of Bonn in February for a week-long series of workshops which formed part of the newly launched Organisational Capacity Programme.

The Programme from the Agitos Foundation, in partnership with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Academy, aims "to strengthen the capacity of NPCs in governance, management, leadership and sport promotion through the six priority areas of the IPC's Strategic Plan".

The fruits of that work have already begun to be seen, with the first national activities being organised.

Daniela Luchina brought 32 managers and coaches from within Para-sport in Argentina together to talk and learn about the Paralympic Movement, organising events and fundraising.

"It was a great pleasure to be able to deliver this workshop to start doing something to improve our national Movement," she said.

"But even more gratifying was to see how new and not that new people in the Movement showed a remarkable commitment in the workshop, and to be a part of this initiative to take to a better level our athletes and Paralympic sports."

The 12 National Parlamypic Committee programme leads have been given the aim of organising four workshops in their countries by the end of next year ©Getty Images



In Sierra Leone, Unisa Deen Karbo organised a session for board members and coaches in the capital Freetown to develop a strategy for attracting more athletes to Para-sport.

Among the topics up for debate was the Movement, stakeholder management and athlete development.

Similar activities have also taken place in Cameroon, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Liberia, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Seychelles, and Vanuatu.

"This workshop is the most significant thing that has happened in the history of the Movement in Ghana," a participant at an event in the country said..

"This is first ever IPC sponsored event in Ghana, and has given birth to vision and mission statements and organisational structure for the GPC (Ghana NPC) which did not exist before."

The 12 programme leads at February's workshop were given the aim of delivering four workshops of their own by the end of next year with the support of the Agitos Foundation.

Fiona Paulin, who gathered feedback from participants in an event in Seychelles, said: "The Organisational Capacity Programme has been an eye opener.

"It has broadened my knowledge of the Movement, its vision and mission.

"For Seychelles we now have a better picture as to what our role is."

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