Parsons joined fellow IPC Governing Board member Juan Pablo Salazar for the meeting with Duque.

The discussions included issues such as the "En sus marcas, listos… inclusion" initiative, which has been helping to develop Para-sport in Latin America as a tool for social inclusion.

Parsons and Duque also talked about potential future projects being extended to benefit more countries in the region.

The IPC President presented the organisation's new brand campaign, "Change Starts with Sport". 

Sergio Diaz Granados, executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for Colombia and Peru, attended the meeting with Ernesto Lucena, Colombia's Minister of Sport.

"We enjoyed an extremely productive meeting with President Duque and several key stakeholders where the main topic of conversation was how Para-sport can drive the human rights agenda - particularly in relation to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - and advance the Sustainable Development Goals," Parsons said.

"It was fantastic that Sergio Diaz Granados attended the meeting as it was a perfect platform to showcase how the IPC and Agitos Foundation's partnership with IDB and the Colombian Government has utilised Para-sport as a vehicle to drive the socio-economic inclusion of persons with disabilities.

"Going forward we discussed how we could take such initiatives as 'En sus marcas, listos… inclusión' to the next level by bringing more multilateral stakeholders to the mix of supporting partners."

The "En sus marcas, listos… inclusion" project was first launched in 2017 by the Inter-American Development Bank and the IPC's development arm, the Agitos Foundation.

The initial phase of the project was aimed at boosting infrastructure in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Peru.

The project allowed 300 local leaders to benefit from awareness workshops, while over 400 people with disabilities from 10 vulnerable communities had the opportunity to participate in adaptive sports.

The second phase of the project was launched during the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games.

The strategy will aim to use Para-sport as a tool for social inclusion, extending to 16 vulnerable communities in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

The initiative will receive a contribution of $740,000 (£576,000/€671,000) from the Japan Special Fund for Poverty Reduction Program (JPO) and will be executed by the IDB's Social Sector, together with the Agitos Foundation.

The project will be implemented over three years with a total investment of $1.3 million (£1 million/€1.1 million).