(ATR) Prince Albert II of Monaco and Peace and Sport founder Joel Bouzou lead a Peace Walk to open the eighth edition of the Peace and Sport International Forum on Wednesday evening in Monaco.
The latest edition of the annual Forum addresses a timely theme during a turbulent period for world sport: faced with new threats to peace, what solutions can sport offer?
Policy-makers, sport leaders and champions, Olympians, NGO’s and other key figures will address pressing issues confronting today’s society from the rise of extremism to escalating military conflicts and a global migration crisis at the event, Nov. 25-27.
"The current international context makes our action all the more essential," said Bouzou, the president and founder of Peace and Sport. "The unifying and social impact of sport endows it with a pivotal role."
"The International Forum is a crucial event for Peace and Sport," Bouzou said.
Recent events are a scary reminder that sport is not free from potential dangers. The Paris terrorist attacks of Nov. 13 began when three suicide bombers struck outside the Stade de France, resulting in four deaths, as Germany and France played a friendly match inside.
Prince Albert, a five-time Olympian and IOC member since 1985, said sport has the power to unite and bring society closer during these arduous times.
"Sport has the unique and extraordinary capacity to unite people together, communities under extreme tension, populations facing dramatic armed conflict," said Albert II, the reigning monarch of the Principality of Monaco.
"Because of its intrinsic values, sport contributes also establishing and maintaining peace in some regions of the world," he said. "Each year, we see sport helping to build bridges between nations, where traditional diplomacy has failed.
"We see it contributing to a restoration of dialogue where political pressure has proved ineffective."
The 2015 Peace and Sport Forum is being held at the Grimaldi Forum, along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Expected to join Prince Albert and Bouzou leading the opening ceremony on Wednesday (Nov. 25) night are IAAF president Sebastian Coe, the prime minister of Gabon, Daniel Ona Ondo and Russian NOC president Alexander Zhukov.
Others leading sporting figures partaking in the Peace Walk are Sergey Bubka, Benjamin Boukpeti, Charmaine Crooks, Yelena Isinbayeva, Paula Radcliffe, Helena Sukova and Pernilla Wiberg.
"The Peace Walk with all our Champions for Peace is more than a token gesture," Bouzou said. "Today, all sports stakeholders must gather together and invest their efforts in peaceful and collaborative action. The fact that champions of various sports, from a range of countries and cultures, will join us for this event will contribute to this momentum."
Plenary sessions on Thursday’s program include Preserving Peace in a World in Motion, Sport Tackling Community Tension, and Sport as a Change Maker.
The Peace and Sports Awards Gala at Sporting Monte-Carlo will follow on Thursday evening.
Friday’s closing session is comprised of a series of four workshops.
Bouzou added of the three-day gathering of influential figures in Monaco: "We hope that the eighth edition of our International Forum will generate new focus areas that will translate into practical, impactful action in the coming years."
Written by Brian Pinelli
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