On the Scene: Sports Leaders Urge Governments to Raise Investment in Initiatives for Peace

The IFs panel includes officials from the international federations for handball, canoe and table tennis. Dick Fosbury, president of the World Olympian Association, is second from left. (ATR)(ATR) Members of the Olympic Movement call on the United Nations and world governments to commit more investment in sport as a tool for peace.

Greater cooperation among the IOC, national Olympic committees and international federations also was proposed by sports leaders at the Peace and Sport forum in Monaco Thursday. Direct appeals for financial aid to implement sporting initiatives in nations afflicted by war and poverty provoked other discussions on the first day of the conference.

Tomas Sithole, the IOC’s director of international cooperation and development, led the plea to governments, raising concerns about their funding commitments to sport as an instrument for peace in both developed and developing nations.

He insisted ministers in some countries are blocking the path to change. “These are the people whose culture has to change. Sport is development, sport is education. Invest today and you reap greatly tomorrow,” he said.

“The IOC is doing a lot. We are not putting thousands of dollars into sport for peace, we are putting in millions of dollars from Africa to Asia and Europe to Latin America,” he added.

Sithole told the audience of 300 delegates, including some three dozen government ministers, that NOCs and IFs also have to work harder to collaborate with the U.N., governments and non-governmental organizations to facilitate sports initiatives.

He spoke about the role of the Dutch Navy in helping transport sports equipment to Somalia three weeks ago. The effort was made despite the dangers posed by Somali pirates operating off the country’s coastline that have generated global headlines. Kenya and Darfur are other conflict zones benefiting from IOC projects, he added.

For their part, several officials from the IFs – among 30 represented at the forum – called for governments and the U.N. to play a more active role in launching sports schemes designed to help bring peace in war-torn nations and regions of tension.

Hassan Moustafa, President of the International Handball Federation, warned that a balance has to be struck in cooperation with governments to ensure members of the Olympic Movement maintain their autonomy.

Abdulrahman Al-Mutawa, head of international relations at the Qatar NOC, was among speakers who gave brief case studies. He spoke about the Gulf nation’s Global Sport Fund initiated by the NOC with government backing. U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-Moon is endorsing the project, which brings young people together at youth camps around the globe to learn about Olympic values through sport.

Wilfried Lemke, Special Advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General on Sport for Peace and Development, welcomed a closer collaboration with the IOC, NOCs, IFs and NGOs to support best practice models and coordinate more peace and sport initiatives.

Several IOC members were a vocal presence at the forum. Hungarian Pal Schmitt, a member of the European Parliament and chair of the IOC Sport and Environment Commission, lent support Tomas Sithole (ATR) to calls by Dick Fosbury, President of the World Olympian Association, for sporting initiatives to harness the experience and knowledge of Olympians. Fosbury, a 1968 Olympic gold medalist, described it as “one of the under-utilized assets of the Olympic Family.”

European Olympic Committees President Patrick Hickey talked about the power of sport to help break down barriers between troubled nations.

Introducing a session involving government representatives and sports officials from Israel and Palestine, Italy’s Mario Pescante remarked that “sport can oil the wheels of dialogue and lift barriers of incomprehension.”

Tahani Abu Daqqa, Minister of Youth and Sports at the Palestinian Authority, and Effraim Zinger, secretary general of the Israeli NOC, spoke about the painful war over disputed territories that has raged for decades. “We are convinced sport is paving the way towards peace,” Daqqa said, adding that millions of dollars were being spent on sports facilities. She welcomed sporting initiatives to embrace Palestine and Israel.

Zinger Helen Jepkemoi Sambili (ATR)insisted he was not going to get into “the blame game” following years of bloodshed between Israel and Palestine. Instead, he emphasized opening the door for closer collaboration with the state and neighbouring countries to facilitate peace through sport.

Joel Bouzou, president and founder of Peace and Sport, recalled the moment at last year’s conference when politicians from Israel and Palestine shook hands in a symbolic gesture of cooperation.

This year’s conference session focusing on the Middle East resulted in Daqqa signing an agreement expressing her willingness to move the peace and sport agenda forward in Palestine. Bouzou says he plans to elicit similar support from the Israeli sports minister following the upcoming elections.

“We are very motivated. We have a neutral agenda and we want peace in this regard,” Bouzou said.

Earlier in the day, Kenya’s Minister of Youth and Sport, Helen Jepkemoi Sambili, issued a direct appeal to the Peace and Sport organization to provide financial assistance to spur the development of projects in the east African country. She said sport is a “very important vehicle for peace” in Kenya, particularly following the violence that erupted after disputed elections in January.

There were also case studies, including one from the Burundi NOC to illustrate the work achieved by Peace and Sport in the Great Lakes region of east Africa over the past year.

Prince Albert II of Monaco, IOC member from the principality, was present during the sessions. He opened the forum at a ceremony Wednesday night, saying the sports movement has a responsibility to promote peace through the sport. “Together we can devise and implement action plans that will change the lives of millions of people around the world,” he said.

The conference closes Friday following sessions on ‘Sport, partnerships and corporate social responsibility’ and ‘The challenges of sustainability’.

With reporting from Mark Bisson in Monaco.

For general comments or questions,

click here