Focus on values in sports, education

Sportsmen also serve as ambassadors of peace, promoting understanding among people and nations, a UAE minister said yesterday.

"Under the support and guidance of President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, it has been a national goal to develop a full spectrum of opportunities for the benefit of our sons and daughters," said Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology.

Inaugurating the first biennial conference dealing with 'Common Values in Sports and Education' yesterday at the Abu Dhabi Men's College, Sheikh Nahyan said: "Today's conference reflects a growing conviction that our potential to integrate education and sports is now greater than ever before.

"This potential will continue to be enhanced by the education of the general public and decision makers, by cooperation among countries and institutions, by disseminating knowledge of good practice, and by appropriate training of individuals who are able to understand the inherent relationship between education and sports."

The two-day meet, hosted by the Higher Colleges of Technology, aimed at highlighting the many fundamental values common between sports and education.

"We know that through the Olympics and other international sports competitions, athletes from around the world serve as diplomats and promote understanding among nations and people," Sheikh Nahyan said.

Some of the international and national athletes who spoke at the conference included Jehangir Khan of Pakistan, who was the unbeaten Squash world champion for many years; Mohammed Al Qubaisi, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Marine Sports Club and International Adventurer and Climber; Alain Robert, better known as 'Spiderman'.

The keynote speaker, Dr Adolf Ogi, twice Former President of Switzerland and currently Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General on Sports for Development and Peace, conveyed a message from Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General.

He said: "We ask you to show support and help us create a better world in the interest of all. A world in which children can grow up without fear, play, have fun and are given the means to become what they want to become."

Dr Ogi, who represents the UN at sports conferences, major sporting events and international sports bodies, asked the UAE to help the organisation implement its goals set in the year 2000 at the Millennium Summit in New York, which outlined a number of goals to be met by 2015.

These goals are to "fight poverty, achieve universal primary education, gender equality, reduce child mortality, promote maternal health, combat Aids, ensure a sustainable environment and develop global partnerships," he said.

He identified over 130 sports-related projects worldwide and expected many more to start.