INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SPORT AND DEVELOPMENT SET FOR 16-18 FEBRUARY

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SPORT AND DEVELOPMENT SET FOR 16-18 FEBRUARY

Special Adviser to Secretary-General on Sport

For Development and Peace to Hold Press Conference on 30 January

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 29 January (UN Information Service) -- A first international conference on sport and development will take place from 16 to 18 February 2003 in Magglingen, near Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.

Adolph Ogi, organizer of the event and Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, will hold a press conference Thursday, 30 January, at 10 a.m., in Room III of the Palais des Nations to publicize the conference and give an updated list of participants.  Mr. Ogi is a former President of Switzerland.

The conference will bring together representatives from the United Nations, politics, sport, science and business.  "In the struggle against the great threats to humanity –- poverty and war -– we must exploit the positive mobilization power of sport to the full, and for this we need the commitment of all sectors of society", said Mr. Ogi.  The aim of the conference is to make all parties concerned aware of the possibilities that sport offers for development and the promotion of peace, to define a common ground and to launch strategies, initiatives and measures.

The conference will be opened on 16 February by Swiss Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid.  Among those who have already confirmed their participation are Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland; Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC); United Nations Office at Geneva Director- General Sergei Ordzhonikidze; United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Carol Bellamy; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Director Klaus Toepfer, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers; Vyacheslav Fetisov, Sports Minister of the Russian Federation; Korn Dabbaransi, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand; Joel Matias Libombo, Minister of Youth and Sports of Mozambique; many-times Norwegian gold medallist and President of the non-governmental organization Right to Play (formerly Olympic Aid) Johann Olav Koss; balloonist and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Goodwill Ambassador Bertrand Piccard; and Kipchoge ("Kip") Keino, former Olympic champion and President of the Olympic Committee of Kenya.  Altogether, 200 high-profile participants are

expected in Magglingen, representing United Nations agencies and organizations, governments, the International Olympic Committee, sports federations, non-governmental organizations and athletes.

The programme of the conference provides for plenary sessions with keynote speeches, discussion rounds and workshops.  Two documents will emerge from the conference:  the Magglingen Declaration on Sport and Development, and a list of recommendations.  Mr. Ogi will submit both documents to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in March.

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