Kofi annan brief biography of adolf

To some, Ogi was an optimist whose heart beat for Switzerland. A man close to the people, who fought to end Switzerland’s isolation but found himself increasingly at odds with his own rightwing-dominated Swiss People’s Party.

To others, he was breath of fresh air in the cabinet – a man from the countryside, rather than from a city; a man without a university education; a keen sportsman turned politician.

In truth he was all of these.

Just two months ago, the United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, went on a two-day walking tour with Ogi, starting in his home town, Kandersteg. It was typical of Ogi – a man relishing the international stage, but staying close to his roots.

Ogi told journalists he was leaving office at the “highpoint of his political career”. It was, as he admitted, a career with highs and lows. Those lows included political and personal disappointments, particularly in the 1990s.

He pinned his political colours to the mast as a figure of integration before a key vote in December 1992 on membership of the European Economic Area. Not only did the Swiss government lose the vote, but Ogi lost many allies within his People’s Party.

It was a crisis that continued to dog him. The powerful Zurich-based right wing of the party often called his membership of the party into question, as he fought to end Switzerland’s isolation.

Ogi, the perennial optimist, occasionally fell flat on his face. Critical comments about the crisis in the Balkans cost him the opportunity to reach his cherished goal of becoming foreign minister in 1995. Instead, he took on the defence portfolio.

His period as defence minister encapsulated his difficulties. He sought successfully to end Switzerland&

Thank you Mark for that introduction and to all of you for that kind welcome.

I am delighted to be here at this important conference.

It is clear, from the breadth of topics already covered and the expertise of the participants, how seriously you take your responsibility to sport and wider society.

It is fitting that this conference is taking place here in Dubai and that you have just heard from HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

For Dubai, under his leadership, has become a stunning example of the wider benefits of sport.

Dubai is now a true centre of sporting excellence, hosting major events in a whole range of sports and offering world-class facilities for competition and training.

HH understands, as I know you do too, the huge economic benefits that sport can bring to communities.

The unifying force of sport is also critical for his vision of Dubai as a place where people, cultures and ideas meet and flourish.

It is this unifying potential I want to talk about today and how we can do more to harness sports’ ability to be an agent of social change, to shape our societies and world for good.

Indeed, when Secretary-General, I admit we at the United Nations were often a little jealous of the power, and indeed, universality of sport.

Both the IOC and FIFA have, for example, more members than the UN. At the last count, the UN has 192 members compared to 208 who belong to FIFA.

It was why I was so determined at the UN to use sport more effectively to achieve development goals.

I knew already, of course, how much individual sports – and athletes – were doing in this area.

It is a huge tribute to sport in general – and to all of you here – that you have long recognized sports’ wider responsibility to society and its ability to drive social change.

A great deal of this work was in partnership with agencies within the UN system but often in a piecemeal way.

I wanted to work with you to ma

"It is imperative that the programme and institutional and advocacy initiatives that advance sport for development and peace during the International Year of Sport and Physical Education lead to sustained long-term effects within the United Nations and among Government, private sector and civil society partners," he says in a new report to the General Assembly, which established the international year.

In the report, Mr. Annan affirms that athletics are an excellent vehicle for promoting education, health, development and peace as part of the overall effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set of eight time-bound targets for reducing extreme poverty and hunger and other ills by 2015.

Sports can help achieve the MDGs by drawing young people away from risky behaviour into activities that teach skills and values essential to life, Adolf Ogi, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, has explained during the International Year.

Mr. Ogi said that it often builds better relations between communities as well, as the cricket series between Pakistan and India did last year.

During the year, focal points for activities that incorporated those themes were designated in countries around the globe, Mr. Annan's report says. In addition, the use of sport as a means to promote intercultural, post-conflict and peacebuilding dialogues was highlighted at many international conferences and events.

Sports were also incorporated into the response to the December tsunami in the Indian Ocean, and United Nations agencies have developed activities ranging from fund-raising football games between athletes and singers in Italy to awareness-raising events connected to the XXVIII Olympics, the report says.

The message was relayed by Adolf Ogi, UN Under Secretary and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace, who addressed the conference with a strong speech concentrating on sport’s positive aspects.

Mr Ogi, who can list ‘President of Switzerland’ among his former jobs, expressed his disappointment that sport’s positive characteristics do not always receive the same media attention as the negative stories and scandals.

At a time when many of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals are set to be missed and where bigotry, distrust and terrorism are all contributing to global unrest, he pointed out that the UN has given the world of sport fresh opportunities to demonstrate to politicians how these problems can be solved.

He pointed to UN Resolution 58/5, entitled “Sport as a Means to Promote Education, Health, Development and Peace” and 2005’s International Year of Sport and Physical Education as two concrete initiatives which have given sport a greater role in global development and conflict resolution

As positive examples of sport’s benefits, he pointed to the UN’s work with sport in refugee camps on Thai – Myamar border, interracial football schools in Israel – Palestine, the ‘Sport for Social Inclusion’ programme in Brazil and the recent India-Pakistan cricket series. 

As a further example of sport’s conciliatory power, he pointed to the fact that representatives of 200 nations - including North and South Koreans, and Arabs and Israelis - were able to live together in the Olympic village side by side while politics took a back seat to sport. He added that the fundamental principles of sport - teamwork and fair play and a respect for opponents and rules - are an excellent method of learning life skills.

Adolf Ogi, Special Adviser to Kofi Annan on sport and development

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