Adolf Ogi, the United Nation’s undersecretary-general and the former president of Switzerland, addressed a crowd of over one hundred in the Benson Building Wednesday. He spoke about the importance of sports regarding international community development.
“The world is out of balance,” he said. “We have wars, conflicts, violence, AIDS, natural disasters and it is urgent to act now, not just to criticize.
“Sports is not only for entertainment. It can do good. It cannot make a person, but it can make a person good. It is the missing link to civil society.”
With the assistance of a slideshow, Ogi emphasized the need for countries to use sports to promote peace in the world, especially in light of the UN’s 2003 adoption of resolution 58/5 titled, “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace.”
The resolution is one way in which the UN will try to achieve its seven Millennium Development Goals, which include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women, and ensuring environmental sustainability.
Ogi also referred to the success of the 2005 International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE) in making governments, organizations and individuals aware of sport’s role in contributing to education, development and peace.
He considers IYSPE 2005 a “launching pad” for future projects that will “harness” the positive aspects of sports.
Ogi also urged Canadians to become involved in the development of international sports programs.
“Canada is a great sporting nation and U of T is a leader in sports. Toronto is the home of Right To Play, the most effective sports-related NGO in the world today,” he said.
Several representatives from Right to Play were in attendance at the lecture, as well as representatives from the faculty of physical education and Health, Commonwealth Games Canada and the U of T Centre for Health.
The undersecretary-general lauded Canada as well as the Netherlands, Finland, and Norway for typically being keen promoters of sports in the international community. He pointed to the need for young teachers and coaches willing to assist in sports programs and initiatives around the world.
Of those people who would benefit from the implementation of sports programs, Ogi singled out children, particularly young girls.
“Every young boy and girl should be able to make mistakes,” he said. “Where can they make those mistakes? In sports. This is the school of life.
“Women especially need sports to strengthen their social positions.”
The slideshow was used to illustrate several cases where sports had helped to create an atmosphere of peace, tolerance and understanding in particularly volatile areas within Uganda, Brazil, South Africa, Columbia and other nations.
The final example demonstrated how the sport of cricket is helping to bring India and Pakistan together. The situation was jokingly referred to as “cricket diplomacy.”
A video following the speech also explored the effect of sports on communities of refugees and war victims.
Ogi concluded by describing his goal for the future.
“I hope we can create a new generation that will deal with the world in a better way,” he said. “From here, we need to partner with the world of sport and make the world more peaceful and better. We need research in this new area where sports meets development.”
In the Q&A session that followed, Ogi also expressed the hope that engaging young people in sports would also help to curb obesity, which he said is growing at an alarming rate.
“Obesity will be the number one problem of the future if we don’t do anything about it,” he said. “This is another reason why it is important to make the world aware of the power of sports now.”
U of T students interested in learning more about the UN’s “Sport for Development and Peace” resolution can find information at www.un.org/themes/sport.
// OGI IN BRIEF
1942 – Born in Kandersteg near Bern, in southwest-central Switzerland.
1979 – Becomes member of Swiss Parliament.
1987 – Elected to Swiss Federal Council as a member of Swiss People’s Party.
1988-1995 – In charge of Federal Department of Transport, Communications and Energy.
1995-2000 – In charge of Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports.
1993, 2000 – Was President of the Swiss Confederation, and resigns from SPP Dec. 31, 2000.
2001 – Appointed to the task of a Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace to the United Nations Secretary-General.
As a Special Adviser, Ogi represents the Secretary-General at numerous international sport events. He has called upon sport organisations and international federations as well as sport industries to support the United Nations in the achievement of their objectives.
The mandate of the Special Adviser is oriented not only towards the world of sport, sports industries and governments, but also towards UN bodies. It includes the following duties within the UN: consulting with agencies of the United Nations system engaged in development, peace-making and peace-building, and identifying the tasks and programmes that might benefit from the involvement of sports organisations, in order to make recommendations to the Secretary-General.
