UAE Foundation pledges $11 million to improve inclusivity in global education

The Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity has pledged $11 million to boost inclusivity in schools around the world.

The grant to the Abu Dhabi-based Special Olympics Global Centre for Inclusion in Education to scale up its Unified Champion Schools (UCS) initiative to 10 new countries and expand on its 152 country-network. 

The funding will also enable the launch of a professional development platform to train more than 6,000 educators worldwide – including teachers, coaches, and youth mentors – in effective inclusion practices.

In addition, the grant will help expand the Corps of Inclusive Educators, a global network of mentors who offer peer-to-peer learning and technical assistance to teachers and school leaders, helping to embed inclusive practices into school cultures for lasting impact.

The Special Olympics Global Centre for Inclusion in Education serves as a hub for global thought leadership for inclusive education through research, policy, and programming. The Centre, which is based in Abu Dhabi, was established in 2020 through a $25 million gift from President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as a legacy of the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019.

The renewed commitment was announced at an event hosted by the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the US and member of the Special Olympics Board of Directors, said, “The UAE is proud to work alongside Special Olympics to expand opportunity, advance equality, and demonstrate the power of global collaboration to create lasting change.”

Dr. Shamma Khalifa Al Mazrouei, Acting Director-General of the Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, said, “This partnership reflects the UAE’s belief that inclusive education has the power to transform lives, communities, and societies."

Dr. Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics International Board of Directors, said, “With this grant, we are scaling a movement rooted in dignity, equality, and the power of young people to reshape education systems.”

The UCS programme leverages sports and youth leadership while engaging the wider school community to transform schools into places where every student is valued, respected, and included. To date, the Global Centre for Inclusion in Education has supported 2,831 Unified Champion Schools globally, engaging over 1.1 million young people and training 19,425 coaches and educators to deliver inclusive programming.

Patience Irfasha, a Special Olympics Rwanda athlete, said, “Participating in Unified Sports has changed my life. I've made friends I never would have met and learned that we all have something valuable to contribute, regardless of our abilities.”

Evaluations of UCS in China, Greece Egypt, India, the United States and Kenya show consistent benefits for all participating students, including enhanced social-emotional skills; improved reading and maths scores; stronger feelings of belonging - reported by 86% of students in India and nearly all in Kenya; and significant reductions in bullying and teasing. In Greece, students were 9 to 16 times more likely to report growth in competencies such as patience, empathy, and understanding the emotions of others.