Special Olympics to be held in Kazakhstan in 2012
ASTANA. January 12. KAZINFORM /Gulnara Zhandagulova/ Preparation for the Special Olympics, which will be held for the first time in Kazakhstan in 2012, will be started in Almaty on Thursday, January 14; the press service of the United Nations Children's Fund - UNICEF - informs.
"All organizations supporting implementation of these programs in Kazakhstan will be marked by special certificates", the press service's statement reads.
Besides, there will be summed results of joint activities on the Special Olympics programs in 2009. Children with special needs, who are members of the Special Olympics in Kazakhstan, will take part in the event. At present over 2,25 million athletes train and compete in 170 countries on 33 Olympic sports on local, regional, national and world games.
According to the UNICEF, over 153 thousand children with special needs live in Kazakhstan, and about 3,5 thousand out of them - children with mental disorders. The Kazakh Ministry of Sport and Tourism, GSM Kazakhstan and KazRosGaz LLP are main partners in promotion of children's participation and their social integration into society.