“Abilympics” is the combination of “Ability” and “Olympics”, thus it is referred to as the “Olympics of Skills for People with Disabilities”. It is a quadrennial event in the rehabilitation sector. The purpose of Abilympics is to recognize the skills and talents of people with disabilities in work and life facets, promote public recognition of their abilities and contributions, and advocate for equal employment opportunities.
“Abi” is a mascot which has been introduced since the 3rd Hong Kong Abilympics. It symbolizes the resilience and perseverance of people with disabilities.
The International Abilympics has a history of over 40 years which aims to promote and showcase the work capabilities and talents of people with disabilities globally. To celebrate the declaration of United Nations on “International Year of Disabled Persons” in 1981, the first International Abilympics was held in Tokyo the same year. The contest focused on vocational skills, with over 50 countries sending delegations to participate. The objective was to challenge against the past views on the work ability of people with disabilities and to enhance their employment opportunities.
Hong Kong organized the 3rd International Abilympics in 1991. Since then, the International Abilympics has introduced a series of leisure and interests competition items, such as cooking, floral design and recycling as to showcase the mutli-faceted talents of people with disabilities.
The past International Abilympics had been held in around the globe such as France, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Czech Republic, India, Russia, and Colombia. The upcoming 11th International Abilympics is going to take place in Helsinki of Finland in 2027.
The Joint Council is a founding member of the International Abilympics Association. To actively promote Hong Kong’s participation in every International Abilympics, the Joint Council established the “Hong Kong Abilympics Organizing Committee” to organize Hong Kong Abilympics with local characteristics before the International Abilympics. Apart from the skills contests which will be held in the International Abilympics, the committee also introduces local skills contests in order to enhance the skills level of people with disabilities and their market competitiveness. It is hoped that such act can promote the public recognition on the capability of people with disabilities.
The local skills contests included office administration, gift wrapping, housekeeping, car beautification, cleaning, massage, cookie making, bead threading, mosaic, paper crafts, laundry and ironing, and electric wheelchair safe driving, etc.
Some winners from Hong Kong Abilympics will represent Hong Kong to participate in the skills contests of the International Abilympics. The Hong Kong delegation has achieved remarkable results in past International Abilympics.
| The 1st International Abilympics (1981@ Japan) | (No representatives were sent to compete) |
| The 2nd International Abilympics (1986@ Columbia) | 3 golds; 1 silver; 1 bronze |
| The 3rd International Abilympics (1991@ Hong Kong) | 11 golds; 9 silvers; 7 bronzes |
| The 4th International Abilympics (1995@ Austrailia) | 3 golds; 5 silvers; 4 bronzes |
| The 5th International Abilympics (2000@ Czech Republic) | 4 silvers; 2 bronzes; 1 special honor award |
| The 6th International Abilympics (2003@ India) | 1 gold; 1 silver; 1 bronze |
| The 7th International Abilympics (2007@ Japan) | 1 gold; 1 bronze; 1 special award |
| The 8th International Abilympics (2011@ South Korea) | 2 golds; 5 excellence awards |
| The 9th International Abilympics (2016@ France) | 3 silvers; 1 bronze; 1 excellence award |
| The 10th International Abilympics (2021@ France) | (No representatives were sent to compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic) |
In addition to vocational skills, people with disabilities in Hong Kong are also active in sports and have often achieved good results in Special Olympics and Paralympics.