On the Scene - Sport Hailed as Peace Broker

(ATR) The azure Mediterranean Sea and glamour of Monte Carlo form the backdrop for a summit on the power – and limits – of sport to end turmoil.

About 500 delegates from 100 nations are at the fifth annual Peace and Sport International Forum in Monaco. Most are sports leaders or experts working on conflict resolution in hot spots around the globe. The three-day forum is held under the patronage of Albert II, the IOC member and head of state for the principality.

Thursday’s opening session touched on the impact of sport on the Arab Spring, civil wars in Serbia and Africa as well as the continued disconnect over sport between Palestine and Israel.

Kenyan marathon great Tegla Loroupe, who has created a foundation aimed at instilling peace, talked about the impact her group has had in East Africa.

"Women can challenge men that we need peace," she told the forum.

Panelists on opening day came from Iran, Serbia, Burundi, Palestine, Israel and Kenya as well as the U.S., Great Britain and France.

Heads of state attending the forum included King Letsie III of Lesotho, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, Gjorge Ivanov from Macedonia and Pál Schmitt of Hungary, also an IOC member.

Sports ministers or ministry staff from two-dozen nations in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas are among the delegates.

A dozen and a half IOC members are in Monaco, including Executive Board members Thomas Bach, Ser Miang Ng and Nawal El Moutawakel.

The IOC roll call also includes Sayed Ali, Rene Fasel, Sergey Bubka, Lamine Diack,Alex Gilady, Toni Khoury, Habib Macki, Pat McQuaid, Samih Moudallal, Lassana Palenfo, Angela Ruggiero, Irena Szewinska, Peter Tallberg, C.K. Wu and two honorary (retired) members, Mustapha Larfaoui and Hein Verbruggen.

In comments from the floor, Moudallal, who is from Syria, acknowledged the strife that his country has faced in the ongoing Arab Spring.

"The revolutionaries are young people, they have had to combat tanks, planes. They are thirsty for freedom," he said.

Moudallal proposed that Prince Albert nominate the IOC for the Nobel Peace Prize. He says the award would give the IOC a stronger hand in helping to resolve conflict through sport.

Ruggiero, an athlete member of the IOC since 2010, said she realized the power of sport to abate conflict when she took part in a trip to Uganda to see how children were being helped through the work of the group Right to Play.

"We are the ultimate role model," said Ruggiero about the need to be involved with peace-building activities.

John Amaechi, a U.K.-born and raised basketball pro who had a long career including several seasons in the NBA, is now a psychologist who works with young people in his hometown of Manchester. Amechi said "after 20 years of putting a ball in the hole" he wanted a change.

He admits the riots that hit the country in July show the challenges facing him and others trying to help youngsters.

"Sport is not magic. We still have to teach the right lessons," Amaechi says.

In his opening remarks, Peace and Sport founder and president Joel Bouzou noted that as the organization enters its sixth year, expectations grow.

"With maturity comes responsibility," said Bouzou, who announced the first Peace and Sport Table Tennis Cup in November. Organized by the International Table Tennis Federation and the Qatar federation and NOC, the ten-nation field includes North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Russia, U.S., France and Qatar.

Peace and Sport says it helps organize sports projects "within communities in crisis around the world" as well as staging its annual meeting of experts.

"Exercising its missions in post-conflict zones, areas of extreme poverty or lacking social cohesion, Peace and Sport makes sport a vehicle for tolerance, respect, sharing and citizenship at the service of sustainable peace," is how the organization describes its work.

Peace and Sport projects are underway in Cote d'Ivoire, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel-Palestine, Timor Leste, Colombia and Haiti.

The Peace and Sport awards will be presented at a gala in Monaco Thursday night.

At the close of the conference Friday, Sochi will be handed the Peace and Sport flag as the host of the 2012 meeting, the first to be held outside Monaco.

Written and reported in Monaco by Ed Hula

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