Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed former International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge today as his special envoy on youth, refugees and sports with a mandate to use sports to help promote peace and a sense of normalcy in conflict-torn countries like Syria and Central African Republic.
The UN chief announced the appointment at a UN event "Celebrating Sport for Development for Peace" attended by the current IOC President Thomas Bach. He said the IOC supported Rogge's appointment "wholeheartedly."
Rogge, a former Olympian from Belgium, was president of the Olympic movement from 2001-2013 and is the IOC's honorary president.
Ban said Rogge, 71, will focus primarily on promoting sports "as an empowerment tool" for young people who have been forced to flee their homes "with an emphasis on peace, reconciliation, security, health, education, gender equality and inclusiveness."
According to the UN, it is estimated that more than 44 million people worldwide are now forcibly displaced, the highest number since the mid-1990s. Of these, more than 11 million are refugees who fled their home countries.
The secretary-general noted that in Syria, Central African Republic, South Sudan and elsewhere "conflict, unrest and other circumstances have forced many young people to flee their homes, placing their futures on hold."
"Sports has a role to play to restore at least some sense of normalcy," he said.
Ban recalled traveling with Rogge two years ago to Zambia the first joint visit by UN and IOC chiefs to visit the Olympic Youth Development Center and said he and Bach plan to visit Haiti together to open a sports complex initiative in the coming months.
