On the Scene -- Peace and Sport Conference Opens in Monaco

Sports ministers, IOC members and leaders of national Olympic committees and international federations gather in Monaco for the second International Peace and Sport Forum beginning today.

Nearly 20 IOC members are among the 300 delegates participating in the conference – almost double last year’s overall attendance – held under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, Dec. 3 to 5. They include Italy’s Mario Pescante, Patrick Hickey from Ireland, Pal Schmitt from Hungary, Singapore’s Ser Miang Ng, Ukrainian member Sergey Bubka and Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco.

The conference is a platform for the exchange of ideas about sports policies and initiatives to help ease social tensions in the aftermath of conflicts throughout the world.

Wilfried Lemke, special advisor to the U.N. secretary-general on sport for peace and development, is a keynote speaker. Around 35 government ministers are attending along with representatives from 30 IFs and a similar number of NOCs. Major non-governmental organizations, including Amnesty International, are also taking part.

Mercedes Coghen, CEO of Madrid 2016, is the most high-profile bid official of the four 2016 Olympic candidate cities in attendance. Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo each have two officials at the conference.

Conference organizers claim the forum will help strengthen existing partnerships and allow new alliances to be formed to help formalize concrete responses "to needs identified by communities, weakened by poverty, lack of social cohesion or the aftermath of conflict."

Prince Albert II of Monaco, IOC member from the principality, and Joel Bouzou, president and founder of Peace and Sport, open the conference Wednesday evening at the Hotel Hermitage. Also taking part in the ceremony are Saudi Arabian IOC member H.R.H Prince Nawaf Faisal Fahd Abdulaziz, one of the organization’s ambassadors, IOC executive board member Ser Miang Ng and U.N. advisor Lemke.

IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco will open the conference on Wednesday at the Hotel Hermitage. (Getty Images)The conference program kicks off Thursday with a session titled 'Sport as a geopolitical instrument for peace.' Ralf-Rene Weingartner, director of youth and sport for the Council of Europe, and Teo Ser Luck, senior parliamentary secretary in Singapore’s ministry of sports, are among those offering insights.

This is followed by another round table, 'Harmonising action by government with action from the sports movement,' featuring participants from Kenya, Morocco and Lebanon.

Hickey, president of the European Olympic Committees, opens an afternoon session targeted at NOCs and IFs.

Hassan Moustafa, president of the International Handball Federation, and Jose Perurena, who was elected new president of the International Canoe Federation last Saturday, provide input along with others, including Dick Fosbury, president of the World Olympian Association, and Abdulrahman Al-Mutawa, a representative of the Qatar NOC.

The role of sport within the most disadvantaged communities in the Middle East is the closing session Thursday. Ministers of sport from Israel and Palestine will speak about opportunities for reconciling the two communities through sport.

Case studies on projects developed in vulnerable areas with the assistance of Peace and Sport, including those in Burundi and the Great Lakes region of Africa, the Ivory Coast and Timor-Leste, will also be examined over the course of the two-day conference.

Peace and Sport’s inaugural awards ceremony forms part of the gala dinner Thursday evening when initiatives that have made significant contributions to peace, development and stability in 2008 will be honored. Awards will be given to one NGO, one IF and one sporting event.

The two sessions making up Friday’s program focus on 'Sport, partnerships and corporate social responsibility' and 'The challenges of sustainability.'

Peace and Sport’s founders will spell out their vision and commitments for 2009 to conclude the conference.

With reporting from Mark Bisson in Monaco.

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