Today, Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Anna Tibaijuka, UN-HABITAT Executive Director, met in Lausanne to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between their two organisations.

 

In future, the IOC and UN-HABITAT will form synergies in using sport to mobilise and prepare young people for active participation in urban life and to promote poverty alleviation. Advocacy and field-level activities will be driven in close cooperation between the UN-HABITAT’s offices and the 205 National Olympic Committees. For a start, common projects will be implemented in the following three fields:

 

- youth empowerment through sport

- community-based sport activation in secondary towns, and

- slum dwellers’ activation through sport.  

 

Sport for UN Millennium Development Goals     

Encouraging young people to participate in sports activities will help meet UN targets set by the Millennium Development Goals. The new partnership builds on the important ongoing work of other specialised UN agencies that have already teamed up with the IOC to place sport on their development agendas. 

 

“The IOC is working closely with a number of UN agencies. Through this collaboration, the IOC and UN Habitat will focus on the urban poor: millions of people, particularly children in the slums, for whom sport can bring escapism and hope”, said IOC President Jacques Rogge after the meeting. 

 

Reaching out to young people in slums   

“We must not forget that over 50 per cent of slum populations are made up of young people and there is no better way to give direction and motivation than encouraging them to participate in sports” added Mrs Anna Tibaijuka.

 

To guarantee the successful implementation of this new cooperation agreement, a follow-up committee will be established. It will meet annually to further define, develop, and maintain a programme of common interest.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that six National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have submitted applications to host the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014. They are, in alphabetical order: China, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Poland and Turkey.

 

A number of NOCs requested additional time to designate the city they wish to put forward as Candidate City. The IOC has extended the deadline for these NOCs to submit the name of their cities to 1 April 2009. As of today, Jakarta 2014 (Indonesia), Nanjing 2014 (China) and Poznan 2014 (Poland) have already been confirmed.

The updated timelines below outline the bid process. The date of the election by the IOC members and of the announcement of the host city remains unchanged.

For more information:

 

 General presentation

 Candidature procedure and questionnaire

 

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For more information please contact the IOC Communications Department,

Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our website at www.olympic.org.

Representatives of the Olympic Movement, led by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, today met with Ján Figel’, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, and his delegation at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. The meeting came as a follow-up on the action points specified in the recent European Council Declaration on Sport, which was presented in the Conclusions of the French Presidency of the European Union (EU) in mid-December 2008. In the Declaration, the heads of state call on the European Commission to strengthen its dialogue with the IOC, besides underlining the values of sport and its specific characteristics above its economic dimension. The promotion of the autonomy of the Olympic and Sports Movement as well as the protection of the integrity and fairness of the competitions has been high on the IOC’s agenda over the years.



Topics of today’s discussions included:

- the specificity and autonomy of sport,

- the financing of sport and betting,

- the application of EU competition law and of free movement principles in the field of sport,

- and the fight against doping.



During the meeting, Ján Figel’ confirmed his respect for the autonomous and self-regulatory character of sports organisations. He also recognised that sport is organised internationally and built on a worldwide pyramid system, which was to be considered in the future dialogue between the EU and the sports world. The Olympic Movement representatives stressed the need to safeguard the existing mechanisms of financial solidarity towards grassroots sport – a principle for which the European Commissioner expressed his full support. Looking into the future, Figel’ stated that his team is currently preparing for the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, which still has to be ratified and contains a reference to sport. He considered the Olympic Movement’s input as crucial in that regard.



After the meeting, the IOC President said: "The EU benefits from sport and its values. Organised sport is one of the biggest social movements in society, and its social, educational and health-promoting role is significant. At the same time sports organisations also need the support of the EU to tackle challenges like doping, irregular betting, racism and violence and to safeguard the specificity of sports structures and sporting rules. It is vital that we work closer together to tap the full potential of sport, and today’s meeting was an important step."



Commissioner Figel’ said: "I am pleased that the profile of sport has increased in the minds of government policy makers and stakeholders. Last November’s informal Sports Ministerial Meeting and EU Sport Forum gave sports an additional strong boost, and it is important that we maintain this momentum. There are important issues at stake. That is why we in the Commission welcome the new approach of having a regular, structured dialogue with the IOC. Today’s meeting is a tangible outcome of the new approach. "



List of participants in the meeting:

European Commission

Ján Figel’, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth       

Bernd Biervert, Member of the Cabinet of Ján Figel’          

Pierre Mairesse, Director of Sport           

Michal Krejza, Head of the Sport Unit



Olympic Movement

Jacques Rogge, IOC President

Mario Pescante, IOC Executive Board member and Chairman of the IOC International Relations Commission

Patrick Hickey, IOC member and EOC President

Joseph S. Blatter, IOC member and FIFA President

Jérôme Champagne, FIFA Director of International Relations

Marco Villiger, FIFA Legal Director

Denis Oswald, IOC member and ASOIF President

René Fasel, IOC Executive Board member and AIOWF President

Patrick Baumann, IOC member and GAISF representative

Guy Drut, IOC member

Henri Sérandour, CNOSF President

Yves Vonlanthen, IIHF Administration and Legal Manager

Jean-Paul Clémençon, CNOSF Chief of Staff