International Olympic Committee join hands with the United Nations
The first joint forum between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United Nations kicked off in Lausanne, Switzerland. This was the first time after the IOC attained UN observer status that such a forum was held. The event was aptly titled “The Importance of Partnership” which was opened by the President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge. The main idea behind this partnership is to encourage and aid development through the world of sports and of course to leverage this new status that has been awarded to the IOC by the United Nations.
Sports solely will not be able to drive the agenda of social and economic development; however it can play a huge role in it. According to Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace, Wilfried Limke, the IOC as well as the Olympic movement, shoulder a responsibility of bringing the value that sport exude into mainstream society. This was seconded by the IOC Vice President and permanent representative of the IOC to the UN, Mario Pescante, who further added that the partnership between the sporting world and those whose expertise is to create peace and further development, like the United Nations, can reap many benefits. It would be a learning process and the way forward would be to exchange values and experiences. In this way, sports would be able to contribute to make the world a better place to live in.
This was a technical meeting for specialised representatives from both the IOC and the United Nations that will help them in assessing how to make this existing partnership move forward and set the agenda for the future. There will also be a follow-up on last year’s forum to see how many goals were actually achieved. The members aim to push major sports related projects in developing nations.
The purpose of this forum was to build on the platform that was created by the United Nations General Assembly, giving observer status to the IOC last year. The forum would be considering issues such as how the partnership can partake in the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development goals, gender equality, targeting youth in development, promotion of a healthy lifestyle, peace building, humanitarian aid and actions and most importantly the way forward.
History was made in Lausanne as sport finally had a voice that was heard in the most important institution; the United Nations. It was a moment of pride for the IOC that sports were being looked at for help in these turbulent times where the world faces real and imminent threats. The face of society was changing and where the survival of nations was on a needle’s edge. Sports were being given the importance of bringing the world together and a means of achieving peace. The way to achieve these goals was to exchange views and open up dialogue to identify the issues and ways to deal with them in order to develop policies that would empower women and the disabled people. There was also a discussion on how sport can help in the prevention of crime and violence, how it can bring the human race closer and also aid in thwarting diseases.
This is not the first time the IOC has collaborated with organisations in order to increase the garb of the development program. The IOC partnered with the United Nations Environment Program back in 1994 to incorporate environmental issues in the Olympic Games. Ever since then, the IOC has been UNEP’S most influential partner on sport and the environment. This partnership has held several forums with stakeholders from both the sporting and environmental world, to hash out a means to recognise the optimal practices to encourage sport organisations to do more for the environment.
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