Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi attending the conference.
Doha: The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) convened a high-level roundtable presenting the achievements of sport values-based initiatives for preventing violent extremism (PVE) while highlighting ongoing efforts on securing major sport events from terrorism threats.
Organised by UNOCT’s Global Sports Programme on the margins of the 2022 Doha Forum and co-hosted by Qatar, the hybrid event gathered member states (represented through their national focal points), international organisations, sport federations and civil society.
In his opening remarks, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, expressed his pride for supporting the protection of major sport events, which represent a common good of humanity and the values of sport for fostering communities’ cohesion and resilience to violent ideologies. He highlighted that sport should be “reinforced and used as an extraordinary generator of positive values with unparalleled unifying power.”
Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of UNOCT, stressed that sports inspires people to be better, to aim higher and go further. Its reach extends beyond borders and continues to be a common language for all, especially youth.
“We must protect and promote these values as part of our commitment to preventing violent extremism,” he added.
Voronkov noted that the contributions of National Focal Points are vital to sharing practical knowledge and expertise so that the Global Programme can provide technical assistance for the security of major sporting events and the operation of sport-based initiatives within national action plans on prevention of violent extremism conducive to terrorism. Voronkov also thanked Member States, sport federations, UN agencies and civil society for their commitment to support imminent and future priorities of UNOCT sport-focused programming.
At the event, UNOCT announced a Sport for PVE Global Awareness Campaign with the support of FIFA Foundation CEO Youri Djorkaeff, renowned marathon runner Tegla Loroupe, as well as international football legends Luis Figo and Tim Cahill.
During her intervention, Tegla Loroupe said, “Sport gives us the opportunity to run through our problems, rather than away from them. The values and communities we build in sport give us the endurance to persevere.”
Referring to sports values as a remedy to defend youth from violent extremism and negative messaging, Luis Figo emphasised, “Sport unites us. It speaks to us in a language we can all understand. It is for this reason that sport is a powerful tool against hate narrative and violent ideologies.”
Facilitated by Mauro Miedico, Deputy Director and Chief, Special Projects and Innovation Branch of UNOCT, the event also featured interventions by Nasser Al Khori, Programmes Director at Generation Amazing Foundation and Tim Cahill, Qatar Legacy Ambassador and Chief Sports Officer at Aspire Academy.
Generation Amazing Foundation is the human and social legacy programme of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, that has positively impacted more than 725,000 people globally since being launched during Qatar’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup.
A panel discussion on the specific outcomes of the Global Sports Programme featured representatives from UNOCT, UNAOC, UNICRI, and ICSS discussed the tools and initiatives developed by the programme across its security and PVE workstreams.
