Along with his patronage, Lemke has confirmed he will attend the opening of the second Pacific Youth and Sports Conference (PYASC) being held from 2-6 December, 2013 in Nouméa, New Caledonia.
The UN places importance on the role sport can play in the promotion of education, health, development and peace.
“Sport unites people of all social classes, cultures, religions and backgrounds in a positive and educational way,” Lemke says.
“As an initiative of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), with the New Caledonian government and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the Pacific Youth and Sports Conference is aimed at providing the tools and skills necessary to use sport as an effective tool to promote education, health and social inclusion in the Pacific region.”
Receiving the patronage of Lemke and the UNOSDP is a huge accomplishment for the conference’s co-conveners and is reward for the hard work being done behind the scenes by PYASC CEO Franck Castillo.
OFC and Football Federation Australia, through the Just Play programme, receives support from the Australian Aid Programme as part of the Pacific Sports Partnerships. The Australian Sports Commission (ASC), being the Australian Government nominee on the UN Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDPIWG), maintains strong ties with the UN.
It was through these linkages that the ASC International Sport for Development director Sophie Beauvais was able to introduce Castillo to UNOSDP head of office Poul Hansen and orchestrate a meeting between the two.
In December 2012 Castillo travelled to Geneva to meet Hansen and explain the Just Play programme, the work currently being carried out in the Pacific, and inform him about PYASC.
“His response was that PYASC sounded like a great event and he expressed an interest in having his office involved in some way. I suggested Mr Lemke’s attendance would be an important way to offer their support,” Castillo says.
“When I developed the Just Play programme I used the UNODSP recommendations on how to use sport to help achieve the Millennium Goals, and I told Poul that was the inspiration behind the design of our programme.”
The Millennium Goals are eight international development goals, including eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, promoting gender equality and empowering women, and achieving universal primary education, which were established following the Millennium Summit of the UN in 2000. All 193 UN member states and at least 23 international organisations have agreed to achieve these goals by 2015.
Following Castillo’s visit, president of the New Caledonia government Harold Martin sent a letter inviting Lemke to attend the conference which was accepted and lead to his patronage.
“Through participation in the conference, 1000 young leaders will gain useful knowledge regarding sport for development. With their new found expertise, it is the hope that the participant can implement effective sports programmes in their local community, and have a positive impact on all of the important local youth issues,” Lemke says.
“I am very much looking forward to attending the 2nd Pacific Youth and Sports Conference. I wish the organisers and participants all the best as you prepare for this event in December. This conference will be a great platform to exchange experiences and discuss the use of different sporting approaches to the community.”
For more on the Pacific Youth and Sport Conference go to pyasc.org

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