“Sport has an important role in improving the lives of people around the world. It builds bridges between individuals and across communities, providing a fertile ground for sowing the seeds of development and peace,” said Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace.
Sport is increasingly recognized as an important tool in helping the United Nations achieve its development goals by catalyzing advances in poverty reduction, universal education, gender equality, prevention of HIV/AIDS and other diseases, environmental sustainability as well as peace building and conflict resolution.
Both globally and in China, the United Nations is playing a leading role with its partners in maximizing the benefits sport can bring to the poor and to society as a whole. In China the UN has worked closely with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and Chinese partners on projects to help ensure that the Olympics leave a positive legacy in terms of health, education, development and the environment.
“China has done an incredible job in making this Olympics not only successful but with legacies in development that will stay well after the Games. One only has to see the skyline of Beijing and realize the leaps this country has made to arrive at this point,” added Lemke.
Athletes, in particular, can act as role models and can actively use their influence and experience to promote sport for development and peace. Chinese basketball star Yao Ming and former Olympians such as swimmer Luo Xuejuan, ping pong player Deng Yaping, diver Gao Min, long-distance runner Wang Junxia and skater Yang Yang have all collaborated with the United Nations to promote poverty alleviation, public awareness on HIV/AIDS and environmental protection.
“Olympians are the greatest ambassadors of goodwill in the world of sports, especially the youth of today,” said Richard Fosbury, the President of the World Olympians Association.
For the past eight years, China has made great efforts to prepare Beijing and other cities for a world-class Olympics with an emphasis on environmental sustainability. Numerous polluting factories have been closed, moved or shifted to cleaner production, public transport has been expanded, new vehicle emission standards have been launched, thousands of old vehicles have been taken off the roads, and there is a growing public awareness of environmental protection.
“This has truly been a ‘Green Olympics’ in which development has been achieved with an emphasis on environmental sustainability. It is one of the great legacies of the Games of which China can be proud,” said Khalid Malik, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China. “The people of China will reap the benefits for generations to come,” he added.
Click here to download the news photos of the event(zip)
For more information please contact Mia Turner, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office/Beijing, Tel. 861-10-8532-0910, Email: mia.turner@undp.org
体育运动是推动发展与和平的重要力量
2008年8月15日，北京--2008北京奥运会赛程近半，无论赛场内外，体育运动在推动和平与发展进程中彰显了巨大力量。
代表联合国秘书长潘基文前来出席北京2008奥运会开幕式的联合国秘书长体育促进发展与和平特别顾问维利•莱姆克先生 (Wilfried Lemke) 今天在联合国大楼举行的临行前新闻发布会上表示：“在全世界范围内，体育运动在改善人民生活方面起着举足轻重的作用。体育在个人与社区间构建起沟通的桥梁，为发展与和平的种子开花结果提供了一方沃土。”
体育运动日益成为帮助联合国实现发展目标的重要工具，促进在削减贫困、普及教育、性别平等、艾滋病和其他疾病预防、环境可持续发展、缔造和平和解决冲突等诸多发展领域的变革。
联合国在中国和全球范围内带领其他合作伙伴，致力于确保体育事业发展最大化惠及贫困人口和整个社会。在中国，联合国与北京奥组委和其他合作伙伴携手，展开教育、健康、环境、社会发展等方面的项目，留下具有进步意义的奥运遗产。
谈到参加出席本届奥运会的感受，莱姆克赞赏地说：“中国不仅出色地确保了奥运会的圆满成功，并且留下了诸多得以延续的奥运遗产。从北京涌现的摩天建筑就可以看出中国发展之迅速。”
他强调，运动员尤其可以起到模范带头作用，利用他们的影响力和经验积极倡导体育运动促进发展与和平。中国篮球明星姚明和前奥运游泳冠军罗雪娟、乒乓冠军邓亚萍、“跳水皇后”高敏、奥运长跑冠军王军霞和短道速滑冠军杨扬等都曾与联合国一道，帮助推动消除贫困、提高艾滋病防治和环境保护的公众意识。
世界奥林匹克选手协会主席理查德•福斯贝里(Richard Fosbury)在会上说：“奥运选手是世界体育界最好的亲善大使，尤其对当今的青年而言。”
在过去的8年里，中国为北京和其它奥运城市成功举办一届世界级的奥运盛会而做出了巨大的努力，特别是注重环境的可持续发展。众多污染企业被关闭、搬迁或转化为清洁生产，扩大了公共交通，启动了新的机动车排放标准，成千上万辆旧机动车因此被淘汰，同时公民的环保意识也随之进一步提高。
联合国系统驻华协调代表马和励（Khalid Malik）在发布会上表示：“北京奥运会的确是一次‘绿色奥运’，筹备过程非常注重环境的可持续发展，这是中国值得为之自豪的奥运遗产之一，未来几代的中国人民都将从中收益。”
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