PRESS BRIEFING ON GLOBAL PEACE GAMES 2001

PRESS BRIEFING ON GLOBAL PEACE GAMES 2001

A Global Peace Games 2001 for Children and Youth was formally launched at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, with the organizers appealing for wider worldwide observance.

The event, to celebrate the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence (2001-2010), would be marked on 11 September and would feature

friendly soccer games.  The day also marks International Day of Peace and a new session of the General Assembly.  The ad hoc friendly games and events follow a General Assembly invitation for support for the Decade proclaimed by its resolution 53/25 of 10 November 1988.

New York City, as with the first Peace Games in 2000, would be the main centre of activities.  In a message read on his behalf by Kenneth J. Podziba, Commissioner, New York City Sports Commission, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani urged reflection by the international community on the shared commitment to a more peaceful future.  Participation in sports taught young people dedication, teamwork and perseverance.  Soccer -- enjoyed around the world -- was a fitting instrument through which the world could strive to achieve peace.

He invited visitors to New York during the occasion to take the opportunity "to enjoy some of the many cultural and historical attractions here in the 'Capital of the World'".

The friendly soccer games would recognize the centrality of children and youth in the International Decade for Peace and Non-Violence, celebrate the International Day of Peace, and highlight the forthcoming Special Session of the General Assembly on Children scheduled for late September, according to the organizers.

Judy McPherson, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of PLAY SOCCER, a non-profit organization, hoped the event would be truly global and that children everywhere would participate in it sometime during the month of September.  She also hoped a linkage would be found through the universal message of the UNESCOManifesto, which was issued last year for the Culture of Peace.  She wanted the event to be an opportunity for children to develop leadership and to demonstrate their commitment to peace in a manner that could be conveyed on a universal level.

She said the world's soccer federation, FIFA, had endorsed the concept of the Global Games.  The SOS Children's Village organization and SOS-Kinderdorf International were also sponsors.  SOS Children's Villages had undertaken to ensure that the Games were organized in the 37 countries where it had branches.

Lamuel A. Stanislaus of Grenada said it was through the universal language of music and the international acceptance of sports that the world had the best chance of attaining the universal goal of brotherhood and sisterhood.

He noted the emphasis the Secretary-General had placed on sports in appointing a Special Adviser on the subject.  He hoped the Secretary-General's adviser would help make the event an annual affair that would be a credit to the

United Nations and the world in general.  His country was happy, together with Costa Rica, to have endorsed the Global Peace Games event.

In its resolution 53/25, the General Assembly invited non-governmental organizations, religious bodies and groups, educational institutions, artists and the media to support the Decade for the benefit of every child in the world.  It also designated the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the lead agency for the Decade and called for a Global Movement beginning with the International Year for the Culture of Peace (2000).

The manifesto, drafted by a group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, appealed to individual commitment and responsibility and encouraged a global movement towards a culture of peace. 

It is planned that participating children and youth would read the manifesto at each site of the sporting event, and their written signature on copies of the manifesto would be forwarded to the United Nations Secretary-General.

An open invitation is being extended to all non-profit, civil society, non-governmental organizations, according to the organizers.

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