Barbara Njovo

Barbara Njovo is a Special Olympics athlete leader based in Zimbabwe. When she was put in a special class as a child, Barbara faced challenges of stigma by her peers. Barabara vowed to overcome. Barbara is a member of Africa’s Regional Athlete Leadership Council (RALC)—a group of athletes (people with intellectual disabilities) who represent the voice of their fellow athletes to lead the direction of Special Olympics programs and activities. A qualified Nurse Aide, Barbara serves as the RALC’s Regional Health Liaison Officer. In this role, she updates the RALC on progress made in Special Olympics health programming and proposed initiatives for improving access to health for people with intellectual disabilities throughout Africa. Barbara was selected to participate in the 2023 Global Athlete Congress, an event alongside Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 where athlete representatives from all regions of the world met to discuss existing projects and projects in the planning phase, as well as the concerns of athletes in general. Barbara presented her project on menstrual hygiene management. She was awarded a Joseph R. Biden Coin from the United States Office of the Chief of Protocol, whose mission is to advance the foreign policy goals of the United States by creating an environment for successful diplomacy. Barbara is a seasoned athletics champion. She holds eight gold medals from local athletic competitions, as well as international awards: she received a silver and a bronze medal at Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 and two gold medals at the Special Olympics 1st Pan African Games Egypt 2020. As a female athlete, Barbara believes that women should break the barriers in the male-dominated field of sports and take leadership roles such as coaching. She completed a course in sports management to equip herself to become a sports leader.