Metaphors of breaking down walls hold extra symbolic meaning in Germany's capital, a city which was divided between east and west by a wall for more than 28 years.

Special Olympics International chairman Timothy Shriver is from a family which is inseparable from the city in the Cold War era. His uncle John F. Kennedy was the United States President at the time the Berlin Wall was erected, and on June 26 1963 delivered one of the most famous speeches of the era.

"All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner," he declared on the steps of Rathaus Schöneberg in a speech that served as an attack on the Soviet Union as well as a message to West Berliners.

Less than five months later, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

In 1968, Shriver's mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the Special Olympics, providing training, activities and programmes to people with intellectual disabilities and seeking to promote respect, inclusion and acceptance. The movement now covers seven recognised regions, and 187 nations are competing at the 16th edition of its Summer World Games in Berlin.

The significance of Berlin as a host city for the first time was not lost on Shriver during Saturday's (June 17) Opening Ceremony at the magnificent Olympiastadion, a venue with a history of its own.

"He [Kennedy] did not live to see that Wall come down, but my mother did and my mother lived to see her Special Olympics Movement rise up from the dust and the ashes of the walls of institutions and the walls of hatred and the walls of oppression all around the world," he said.

"I only wish that my mother could be here tonight in Berlin to thank you for fulfilling her dream and for teaching the world how to see beautifully."

Since the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, Berlin has been depicted in popular culture as a city united after decades of division. Freedom of movement now exists across the city, aided by the outstanding public transport network which forms a key part of moving people between venues at the Special Olympics World Games in one of the major pluses for any major multi-sport event.

Scratch a little deeper beneath the surface, and the rosy image does not necessarily tally with reality. Sparked in part by the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Wall in 2019, there has been a growing focus on the inequalities that still remain between east and west in Germany as a whole.

Earlier this year, I finished reading Scheisse! We're Going Up!, a book covering the rise of FC Union Berlin who became the first club from the former East Berlin to play in the Bundesliga in 2019. The club's rise and perceived unique culture has made it a hipster favourite, and last season Union made further history by qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time, while their Olympiastadion-based neighbours Hertha BSC were relegated.

The book covered a host of different stories and perspectives from fans and officials associated with Union, and it became clear any monolithic narrative of Berlin's past and present does not tally with reality, with the city and the club holding very different meanings for different people.

Yet symbolism can be important for delivering an important message. Shriver also focused at the Opening Ceremony on the success of black American Jesse Owens, who won gold medals in the men's 100 metres, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump. The Games were perhaps the most shameful episode of Olympic history, being used as a blatant propaganda opportunity for Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime, but the legendary feats of Owens have been viewed as going some way to crushing the myth of Aryan supremacy.

"Here in 1936, on this track, one of the most brutal regimes in history was confronted by one of the bravest and most courageous athletes in history, Jesse Owens," was how Shriver reminded those in attendance on Friday.

When it comes to promoting the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in education and sport, Berlin with its history and imagery was in many ways an ideal place to launch a Global Leadership Coalition to work towards this end.

Hours after the Opening Ceremony finished, a group of 14 countries and representatives from other organisations including United Nations agencies committed to seeking to expand inclusive sports and education opportunities to more than two million people in more than 150,000 schools over the next three years.

Participants at a roundtable took turns to underline the importance of working towards this goal. Shriver, who is passionate and energetic, said afterwards he believes Berlin 2023 will be "seen as an historic event for promoting the power of sport and also putting the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities on the global agenda".

"I think people are starting to take the power of inclusion seriously, and they're seeing the value of sport as an implementing tool for an inclusion agenda, with extraordinarily important value, maybe even essential," Shriver told insidethegames.

"We're moving beyond declarations, proclamations and stated commitments to action. This is what we are hoping for and we need more of."

Special Olympics Europe Eurasia President David Evangelista added he believes the Special Olympics World Games will have "transformative experience for 180-plus nations".

"Many people speak of national pride, but what a lot of people don't understand is the vast majority of these athletes have had their families told that your child will not amount to anything, they will not be worth anything and they have no contributions to give to their communities, and yet here they are," he told insidethegames.

"The centre of attention for the whole world for eight days in Berlin, a city that knows solidarity, reconciliation and unity. We believe that the next eight days will pave the way for hopefully the next 80 years of inclusion in a way that I hope the world is just awakening to."

Evangelista explained that members of the Coalition would seek to sign national agreements, with Special Olympics athletes and youth raining national Ministries on how to implement unified sports in schools and training provided on creating "an inclusive mindset".

Statistics provided at the roundtable were startling and underline the scale of the Coalition's task. Shriver said in his introduction that 85 per cent of the 300 million people with disabilities around the world are unable to go to school. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees assistant secretary general Gillian Triggs admitted that "we really don't know and need to know how many" of the 110 million people forcibly displaced around the world have intellectual disabilities.

It is a challenge to overcome, but the work of the Special Olympics in this regard is commendable, and Berlin appears an important step towards breaking down barriers.