国际残疾人奥委会作为一个综合性组织，代表的是所有的残疾人士群体和所有体育运动。创建国际残疾人奥委会的各国残奥委坚信，残疾人士体育运动的未来在于使身患不同残疾的运动员联合起来，举办共同的体育竞赛。
The IPC's mission is to enable athletes with a disability to achieve sporting excellence and to inspire the world. Whereas other international sports organisations for athletes with a disability are limited either to one disability group or to one specific sport, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) - as an umbrella organisation - represents all sports and disabilities. The national sports organisations that created the IPC believe that the future of disability sport lies in bringing together athletes with different handicaps to hold joint competitions.
残疾人奥林匹克运动的历史相对较短，可以追溯到1948年路德维格·古特曼爵士（Sir Ludwig Guttmann）发起的首届斯托克曼德维尔脊椎损伤二战老兵运动会。此后，其他残疾人群体也建立起了他们各自的国际体育组织，由这些组织来安排各种赛事。目前现有的6个此类组织中，除国际聋人体育委员会联合会（CISS）外，都是国际残疾人奥委会的成员。它们分别是：国际盲人体育协会（IBSA）；国际轮椅体育运动联合会（ISMWSF）；国际残疾人体育组织（ISOD）;国际脑瘫人体育和休闲运动协会（CP-ISRA）；国际智力残疾人体育联合会（INAS-FID）。
The history of the Paralympic movement is relatively new and goes back to 1948, when Sir Ludwig Guttmann introduced the first Stoke Mandeville Games for World War II veterans with spinal cord-related injuries. Later, other disability groups also established their international sports organisations, which arranged various competitions.
残奥会是为6类不同的残疾人士共同举办的高水平体育运动会。参加残奥会的运动员残疾类别有：视力残疾、截肢、脊髓损伤、脑瘫、其它肢体残疾和智力残疾。残奥会一直与奥运会同年举办，而自从1988年汉城夏奥会和1992年阿尔贝维尔冬奥会以来，残奥会的举办场馆也与奥运会相同。
2000年10月，国际奥委会与国际残疾人奥委会在悉尼奥运会上签署协议，确定了两个组织之间未来关系的基本原则。2001年6月，双方进一步签署协议，以保障残奥会的组织形式，并确立奥运会和残奥会"同时申办，同城举行"的实践模式，即当一个城市申办奥运会同时申办残奥会。该协议涉及残奥会的总体范畴和组织工作，旨在为奥运会和残奥会的组织举办建立类似的原则。
The Paralympic Games have always been held in the same year as the Olympic Games. Since the Seoul Summer Games (1988) and the Albertville Winter Games (1992), they have also taken place at the same venues as the Olympic Games. On 19 June 2001, an agreement was signed between the International Olympic Committee and the IPC aiming to secure and protect the organisation of the Paralympic Games. The agreement reaffirmed that the Paralympic Games, from 2008 on, will always take place shortly after the Olympic Games, using the same sports venues and facilities. From the 2012 bid process onwards, the host city chosen to host the Olympic Games will be obliged to host the Paralympics as well.