Governor Koike to speak about Tokyo 2020 learnings at 2021 Inclusion Summit

Yuriko Koike, the Governor of Tokyo, has been announced as a keynote speaker at the 2021 Inclusion Summit which will take place online on 2 and 3 December 2021.

The Governor’s keynote will take place on 2 December, the first day of the Summit, and will focus on ‘Initiatives of Tokyo as the host city towards creating an inclusive society’. Over the course of her address, she will highlight the wide range of initiatives Tokyo Metropolitan Government undertook for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games which contributed towards the Games vision ‘Unity in Diversity’ and the Sustainable Development Goals philosophy of ‘Leaving no one behind’.

Having first being elected Governor in 2016, Koike is currently serving her second term and is the first woman to hold the post. Throughout her tenure, she has displayed a strong commitment to the Paralympic Games and how Tokyo 2020 could drive social inclusion in Japan’s capital city.

The theme of the 2021 Inclusion Summit, powered by the IPC and World Academy of Sport, with the support of the International Disability Alliance, 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; Carla Qualtrough, Canada’s Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion; Andrew Parsons, IPC President; Ana Lucia Arellano, International Disability Alliance Chairperson; and David Evangelista, Special Olympics European Eurasia President.

More speakers will be announced in due course.

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