Since Hossameddin Mustafa was elected president of the Egyptian Paralympic Committee (EPC), he has been working overtime to renovate the EPC in ways to meet international standards.

This week, Mustafa signed a memorandum of understanding with Mawael Company for environmental sustainability in Paralympic sports for the first time in the history of the Paralympic movement.

“We are targeting reaching an environmental friendly Paralympic competitions and events. We will start by initiating a Go Green Paralympic national day at the American University in Cairo which will witness the participation of all our 19 Paralympic sports in a full day of activities and competitions that are all going green. This is the new trend all over the world and we want to be the pioneers by applying it to our Paralympic competitions and athletes.”

In a press conference held at the EPC headquarters, Mustafa received Samson Deen, African Paralympic Committee (AfPC) president, together with Hayat Khattab, AfPC vice president, senator and former EPC president, and Ahmed Nasser, head of the UCSA (Union des Confederations Sportive Africains) and the Egyptian Triathlon Federation. Deen thanked the EPC for welcoming him in Egypt which he said is one of the pioneering countries in the African continent in Paralympics. He discussed the maiden African Para Games which is to be held in Ghana, his homeland, and highlighted that after long work the dream came true. “We have been waiting for such a moment for years. Africa is a big continent with powerful Paralympians and I am very happy to announce it here in Cairo that we are hosting the first ever African Para Games. We will have seven sports: para powerlifting, athletics, wheelchair basketball, goal ball, amputee football, sitting volleyball and wheelchair tennis. We are targeting 1,536 athletes and all the events will take place in Accra, Ghana, from 3 to 12 September.”
He also gave special thanks to Nasser for supporting the AfPC in making the dream of the Games come true.
Later, Ashraf Sobhi, Egypt’s minister of youth and sports, joined the meeting and gave his full support to the AfPC and the EPC in all future events. “It is an honour for us to be working with the African Paralympic Committee and we are willing to support them in hosting the first ever African Paralympic Games. We have a number of experts and professionals who have been working in this field for years and we are ready to give a hand to anyone. I am also optimistic that the coming African Games will be hosted by Egypt as we have all the sports facilities needed to host any Paralympic event.” Sobhi went on to thank Mustafa “for all his efforts and the progress that had taken place in the EPC in such a short time” and gave his complete support for hosting the VISTA conference “and to come out in its best version”.
The EPC board members also decided to renovate all aspects of the movement according to a scientific basis and professional planning.
“We have been working on ideas out of the box not only to improve the performance and results of the Paralympic athletes but also on all levels,” Mustafa said. “The EPC board members have initiated their renovation and development plans by building the Egyptian Paralympic Museum, the world’s third such museum. It will document memories and history as it will include all of Egypt’s history of medals, cups, certificates, letters, photos, videos, and decorations. It comes in celebration of 50 years of the Paralympics in Egypt.”
The EPC also initiated the Egyptian Paralympic Academy which will help all those working in the Paralympics field to enhance their experiences and their training according to the latest scientific updates with the help of a number of professional professors and academics. It will serve not only the Egyptian community, but other Arab and African countries and the world at large.
The EPC also launched its website in the Arabic and English languages in addition to a monthly e-magazine that will cover all branches of the Paralympic movement in Egypt and will be available on all social media websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
The EPC will also host the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Scientific Conference-VISTA 2023 designed to promote and advance the mission, goals and reputation of the IPC and provide a platform for sports scientists to meet with experts in the field for athletes with disabilities. This is the first IPC Vista meeting held outside Europe and Egypt is the first country in Africa and the Middle host to host the event that will take place in October this year in the New Administrative Capital.
“We have also finalised the national classification strategic plan for the first time to prepare our national classifiers in all Paralympic sports to serve all governorates,” Mustafa said.
“Moreover, we have finalised the first economic project that will provide us with the financial support needed to promote and develop all Egyptian Paralympic Sports and help us execute our social responsibility through establishing a joint Egyptian stock company to assist in the growth of our business and which will attract a number of shareholders from Egypt and abroad. It will help us expand our resources and not limit ourselves to financial support from the sport’s ministry.”

* A version of this article appears in print in the 16 March, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly