Sport role emphasized

Manama : The role of sport in achieving the sustainable development goals were emphasized at the First Arab Conference on Sport, which got underway yesterday at Art Rotana Amwaj Hotel in Muharraq.

The Youth and Sports Affairs Ministry is bringing this event for the first time in the Arab region in cooperation with the United Nations Office in Bahrain and the International Council for Health, Physical Education, Sports and Recreation (ICHPER.SD).

Highlighting the slogan “The Role of Sport in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals,”the opening session of the two-day conference was attended by around 200 participants, headed by Youth and Sports Ministry’s assistant undersecretary Eng.Khalid Al Haj.

In his opening remarks, Al Haj said he was proud as the Kingdom of Bahrain embraces this first-of- its-kind gathering in the Middle East, which is one of the leading initiatives for the Kingdom of Bahrain in the youth and sports sector, which was unanimously endorsed by the Arab Ministers of Youth and Sports Council.

“Having this conference in Bahrain is a clear evidence of the country’s commitment to use sport to serve the community, and discuss the best practices to integrate various goals for a sustainable development in the world of sport,” said Al Haj.

“We are extremely pleased as the Kingdom of Bahrain is the starting point to discuss the role of sport as a key tool in promoting tolerance, peace, social integration, economic development and many noble values that we aspire to achieve through sustainable development”.

Early on, an introductory film kicked off the opening ceremony, which was followed by an operetta, in which the importance of sport on communities all over the world was highlighted.

Marcello Lippi – Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning coach and the conference main speaker – delivered his speech, in which he stressed on creating a culture for sustainable development and learn from mistakes, a strategy himself is implementing when coaching.

Yesterday’s inaugural session of the first theme covered the role of sport in implementing social goals for a sustainable development, which was presented by UK’s Dan Powell and Egypt’s Dr Ranya Al Alwani.

Late on, Bahrain’s Dr Hashim Hussain and Dr Omar Al Obaidly, in addition to Dr Ashraf Sobhi of Egypt spoke in the second session, which was about the role of sport in applying economic goals to achieve sustainable development.

The remaining sessions are scheduled for tomorrow, the concluding day of the conference, from 9.30am onwards. Two more themes will be discussed in today’s first sessions, the first of which will be the role of sport in executing the environmental goals for sustainable development.

This theme will be presented by Dr Bander Al Saad of Saudi Arabia and Regional Development Coordinator for UNEP’s Regional Office for the West Asia region Melanie Hutchinson

Today’s other theme will be the Activation of Sport partnership to achieve sustainable development goals, and will be presented by Dr Moayyed Al Wahsha and Ahmed Janahi.