South East Asian countries have received support from the Agitos Foundation ©IPC

Paralympic sport in Cambodia, Laos and The Philippines is being boosted by three development workshops run as part of the Agitos Foundation’s Organisational Capacity Programme.

The Agitos Foundation, the development arm of the International Paralympic Committee, is aiming to strengthen the effectiveness of all three organisations in areas such as governance and planning, athlete development, marketing and communication.

An initial meeting took place in Laos last week with key political and sporting stakeholders as well as the Asian Development with the Disabled Persons (ADDP).

“I am so happy to see this positive attitude of the Laos Paralympic Committee (LPC)," said ADDP representative, Yuki Nakamura.

"We, the ADDP, also spare no efforts to support their capacity building to recognise that good governance and transparent organisational management should be realised by the concerted efforts of all stakeholders. 

"The LPC's reform is a really imperative and necessary step.”

Philippines swimmer Ernie Gawilan pictured competing at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games ©Getty Images
Philippines swimmer Ernie Gawilan pictured competing at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games ©Getty Images

A workshop is also due to take place in The Philippines on Thursday (December 22) to "analyse the current NPC structure against IPC requirements".

A final one is scheduled to take place in Cambodia on December 28 and 29.

Neither Laos nor Cambodia have ever claimed a medal at the Paralympic Games.

Table tennis player Josephine Medina secured class eight singles bronze to win the Philippines' only medal of Rio 2016.

Further workshops are due to take place in Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam in early 2017.