PYASC is under the patronage of the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, with special advisor to the UN General Secretary, Wilfried Lemke travelling from Europe to Nouméa, New Calédonia to speak at the conference.
Lemke addressed the attendees on the opening day before continuing today, introducing the concept of Sport for Development – a topic close to the football lover.
“People who know about me and my priorities know that my priority is not the elite sport,” Lemke says.
“I love football, I love FIFA, I love Wynton Rufer who was a player in my club 10-20 years ago. But now my priority is to try and use sport as a tool for development and peace at the grassroots level.”
Lemke says the UNOSDP’s support of PYASC was an easy decision for his office to make.
“I immediately said yes because I’m very much focused on these people. They are wonderful up-and-coming leaders for their countries and so we have to give them all the support that we can and I have done it now, here, on behalf of the UN.”
Lemke says PYASC 2013 is one of the biggest conferences for sports and youth that he has ever seen during his travels around the world and he’s incredibly pleased to be part of it.
“I’m sure that these young people here today can make a difference in the Pacific, the outcomes will be felt all around Oceania. As I said, these are the young leaders of the future.
“They need all our support, and when I say ‘all our’, I mean at the local base, the national base, the Pacific and also in the United Nations. And that is my role, to invite them to join us in the big wide global network of users of sport as a tool for development and peace.”
Lemke says with the tools and knowledge these young people are being equipped with they are now ready to embark on careers that could lead them anywhere.
“It might only be the Oceania region today, but one day they might step over into our internship programme – and that means being connected all over the World.
“They have the tools to make a change and I hope that one day some of them will be the sports ministers or head of states in their small countries.”
The Pacific Youth and Sports Conference began on Monday and will run through to Friday.
Tomorrow is a recreational day with activities promoting the local culture and environment in New Calédonia being offered to participants.