Coinciding with International Women's Day - celebrated every March 8 - the Awards recognise excellence of women in Para sport.

IPC's Women in Sport Committee - chaired by Rita van Driel - decided the winners of the three accolades.

Zimbabwe coach Oripa Mubika was given the Leadership Award, recognising "sustained and consistent leadership over a period of time, advocacy, overall contributions and impact promoting and supporting women in sport".

Mubika was one of a few female Para sport coaches in Zimbabwe before the country joined the IPC.

As the secretary general of the NPC Zimbabwe, she has introduced sitting volleyball to the country in 2016, increased female representation on the Board to 50 per cent and became the nation's first female coach at the Paralympic Games when she represented the nation at Tokyo 2020.

Yip Pin Xiu of Singapore was given the Emerging Leadership following her work in politics.

The five-time Paralympic swimming champion became the first Para athlete to be elected as a Nominated Member of Parliament - a position appointed by the Singaporean President - and has since called for the Government to form more inclusive sports associations.

She was also recognised nationally, last year becoming the first recipient of the President's Award for Inspiring Achievement.

Finally, Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) was recognised for its work as an equal opportunities employer with both their chief executive Fiona Allan and Board chair Jana Rangooni being women.

Its Board is 57 per cent female; as is 82 per cent of its staff, 80 per cent of its senior leadership team and 82 per cent of its classifiers.

Its Chef de Mission and deputy from the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Paralympics were female too and 88 per cent of medals won at Tokyo 2020 were by women.

Allan collected the National Paralympic Committees and International Federations Award on PNZ's behalf.

"On behalf of PNZ I am incredibly proud that our organisation has been recognised with this award," said Allan after receiving the award from IPC President Andrew Parsons as well as Van Driel.

"Our female Paralympians and Para athletes continue to inspire future generations of girls and women in Para sport. 

"We endeavour to ensure female representation across all aspects of our organisation, from our Board, our staff and support staff."

International Women's Day has been celebrated every March 8 since 1911.

It became a national holiday in the Soviet Union in 1917 and it was later celebrated by the United Nations in 1975.