The International Blind Football Foundation (IBF Foundation) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ONCE Social Group, a Spain-based organization promoting the autonomy and social inclusion of people with visual impairments and other disabilities.

Through this agreement, both organizations will cooperate to promote projects for people with visual impairment and to support startups developing products and services that contribute to solving social challenges related to visual impairment, leveraging each organization’s respective strengths.

ONCE Social Group is a community of organizations centered on ONCE (Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles), the Spanish National Organization of Blind People. It also includes ONCE Foundation, which provides social services to promote the social inclusion of people with disabilities, and ILUNION, a social business group that fosters employment for people with disabilities while balancing economic and social value. Founded in 1938, ONCE operates throughout Spain with the mission of supporting the autonomy and social inclusion of people with visual impairments.

 

Background to the Agreement

IBF Foundation and ONCE Social Group have previously collaborated on an ad-hoc project basis, notably during the Global Leadership Camps for Visually Impaired People held in Spain, in which ONCE Foundation and ILUNION supported the program through the use of training facilities, office visits, guest speaker sessions, inclusive hotels as training venues, and the participation of members from ONCE-related organizations.

By formalizing this relationship through the MoU, both parties aim to build on these experiences and advance a more comprehensive and sustainable framework for international cooperation.

 

Key Areas of Cooperation

Under this agreement, IBF Foundation and ONCE Social Group have agreed to collaborate particularly in the following areas:

1. Promoting activities aimed at addressing social issues related to visual impairment.

2. Supporting startups that develop products and services contributing to solutions for challenges faced by people with visual impairments.

3. Regular information exchange and the strengthening of international collaboration, primarily between Japan and Spain.

 

Through this agreement, IBF Foundation will further deepen its collaboration with ONCE Social Group and work together with a wide range of stakeholders and educational organizations to address social challenges related to visual impairment on a global scale.