Paralympian and Canadian Minister to speak at 2021 Inclusion Summit

Canada’s Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, is the latest speaker to be confirmed for the 2021 Inclusion Summit on 2 and 3 December 2021.

Minister Qualtrough has served as a Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament since 2015. She is a two-time Paralympian having competed in swimming at the Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games, winning three bronze medals.

Committed to equity and inclusion, Minister Qualtrough has practised human rights law at the federal and provincial levels and has a strong commitment to addressing inequality and championing diversity.

Passionate about the power of sport and physical activity to change lives, Minister Qualtrough has volunteered in sport locally, nationally, and internationally, including with the IPC and for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Toronto 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games. She has been President of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, Vice-President of the Americas Paralympic Committee, and Chair of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada.

At the 2021 Inclusion Summit, powered by the IPC and World Academy of Sport, with the support of the International Disability Alliance, Minister Qualtrough will speak about The Paralympic Movement as a Driver of Inclusive Employment on 2 December.

The theme of the 2021 Inclusion Summit is ‘Building Back Better: Sport as a tool to place persons with disabilities at the heart of the inclusion agenda’. Over two days, a world class line-up of 40 speakers from civil society, business, development, sport, entertainment, and assistive technologies will take part in 16 top-level virtual sessions. Through a mixture of keynote addresses, panel discussions and presentations, two key areas relating to the summit’s theme will be explored:

- Promotion of social inclusion and human rights

- How sport advance the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Amongst the other speakers already confirmed for the 2021 Inclusion Summit are: Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Helena Dalli, European Commissioner for Equality; Andrew Parsons, IPC President; Ana Lucia Arellano, International Disability Alliance Chairperson; David Evangelista, Special Olympics European Eurasia President; Facundo Chavez, Human Rights and Disability Advisor, UN Human Rights; Jon Lomøy, Board Chair of ATscale: the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology; Chapal Khasnabis, Head of the Access to Assistive Technology and Medical Devices Unit at World Health Organization; Stephen Frost, Founder and CEO of Included; and Chris Solly, WAoS Managing Director.

More speakers will be announced in due course.

The full agenda for December’s event can be found at https://www.paralympic.org/events/2021InclusionSummit/speakers

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