Papua New Guinea

Partnership Agreement will Boost Use of Sports for Development, FIFA Boss Says

Buka (Bougainville), 19 January 2007

The recent partnership entered into between the United Nations system in Papua New Guinea and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) will help to achieve the goal of utilizing football as a development tool for the youth in the region, Reynald Temarii, Senior Vice-President of FIFA, the International Football Federation, has said.

Mr. Temarii, who is also the President of OFC, told a press conference in Buka in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, that the memorandum of understanding, which also covers the United Nations System in Samoa , will see the OFC playing an active role in youth education and leadership training over the next five years. This will include issues of public health and economic development policies, as well as cultural exchanges and community development.

"Mr. Temarii listens to Bougainville Speaker Peniai during recent visit by joint FIFA/UN team "

“This initiative is in recognition of the fact that football can make the world a better place,” said Mr. Temarii.

Mr. Temarii was leading a delegation on behalf of Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA, on an official visit that also took the delegation to Kimbe in the Islands Region.

According to the FIFA Senior Vice-President, football academies organized by FIFA and the OFC will focus on youth development and will devote substantial attention to such issues as HIV/AIDS education and other development-oriented topics specific to each country.

“Our goal is to help turn the youths into productive citizens of their various countries,” he said, adding that following the example of the agreement with the United Nations, the European Union had agreed to sign a similar agreement with the OFC.

Speaking separately, Jan-Jilles van der Hoeven , acting Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Papua New Guinea , said that the memorandum of understanding could be an important entry point to achieving universal goals in Papua New Guinea , particularly the Millennium Development Goals.

UNDP was particularly interested in utilizing football for peace and development, especially in with regard to the prevention of conflict, said Mr. Van der Hoeven, who noted that this was particularly relevant in the Autonomous Bougainville Region which had just come out of conflict.

UNDP would also be working on leadership programmes with the OFC, focusing particularly on the area of women and leadership, taking into account that in Papua New Guinea , there is a 50-50 split in terms of the numbers of men and women who play football, he added.

The FIFA visit included the launch of the Bougainville Football for Peace Programme and visits to Felix Kabui, President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government, and to the Autonomous Bougainville House of Representatives .

In Kimbe, the Mr. Temarii performed the official groundbreaking for a new soccer academy to be built with FIFA assistance.

The delegation was accompanied by a United Nations team that included Mr. Hamish Young, the UNICEF Representative in Papua New Guinea, and Mr. Jan-Jilles van der Hoeven, UNDP United Nations Development Programme Deputy Resident Representative.

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