NEW DELHI, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- As many as 100 young people from 18 countries and regions besides host country India, would participate in the "Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities, 2018" on Friday.

According to an official release issued by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on Thursday, the youths with disabilities in the age group of 13-21 years in the category of visual disability, hearing disability, locomotor disability and developmental disorder would be participating in the competition, and the winners would be given awards on Sunday.

The event is a capacity building project that helps youth with disabilities to overcome their limitations and challenges for a better future through access to ICT. It will alleviate the digital divide and expand participation of youth with disabilities in the society.

The competition also propagates implementation of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

The competition will cover several aspects such as "E-tool" which will include competition on application of MS-Excel, MS-Word etc.

According to the official release, there are about 1 billion people, or about 15 percent of the world population persons with disabilities.