Sochi (Russia), 6th November Spanish basketball star Pau Gasol, silver medallist at both the Beijing and London Games, was made 2012 Champion for Peace during the 6th Peace and Sport International Forum in Sochi, for his project partnered with UNICEF that aims to give more children in Africa access to schools so that they may receive education as well as information about hygiene and a healthy lifestyle, water and sanitation equipment.
The Award for the International Federation of the Year was given to the International Ice Hockey Federation, whilst Dili (Timor Est) was named City of Peace, with I- Act receiving the award for NGOs, the best CSR initiative going to the company Megafon, and the special jury award going to two films, Baghdad Galley and Les Rebelles du Foot.
Held in the Russian riviera’s capital that will host the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the event saw gather 500 delegates from 70 countries, from the 31st of October till the 2nd of November. Krasnar Polyana, the village that will be the hub for the Sochi 2014 skiing competitions, hosted the Opening Ceremony in the presence of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, Russian deputy prime minister and NOC president Alexander Zhukov, sports minister Vitaly Mutko, and Organising Committee chair Dmitry Chernyshenko . Also in attendance were 35 heads of government, 11 sports ministers, numerous IOC members, representatives from 26 International Federations and 17 NOCs, 22 sports legends, including pole-vaulting star Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian and other Olympic champions who support Peace and Sport, and several NGOs.
Organised outside the Principality Monaco for the first time, the Forum, headed by Peace and Sport president Joel Bouzou, this year focused on the development of peace through sport within an ever more sensitive geopolitical context, and how governments are reacting. The Forum closed with a debate on the role of sport in the next decade.
With less than 500 days to go to the opening of the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the event was also a test that showed how Russia is ready to host the Olympic Family and the world of international sport, thanks also to the impressive array of new infrastructure put in place for the Games, as the participants were able to see for themselves during a guided tour of the venues.
For more information, see www.peace-sport.org