Kingston 1 March 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has announced a special allocation to Special Olympics Jamaica to enable the national team to compete at the World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi later this month.

“As Minister of Sport, I commit to supporting the Special Olympics programme in Jamaica. And in times like these when our athletes are preparing to represent us in the world games, special funding is also made available. We have provided this time around J$2M,” said Minister Grange at a handing over ceremony at the Ministry’s headquarters today (Friday).

The special allocation is provided by the Ministry through the Sports Development Foundation and is in addition to the subvention that Special Olympics Jamaica receives each month from the SDF to fund its programme.

Wishing the athletes well ahead of their departure, Minister Grange told them that they “represent the best of Jamaica — our heart, our spirit, our strength and we are extremely proud of you.”

The 2019 games, which will take place in the UAE capital between March 8 and 22, is being billed as the most unified Special Olympics World Games in the history of the Special Olympics.

Jamaica will send a 98 member delegation — with our athletes competing in Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Bocce, Football, Volleyball, and Rollerskating.