Top international athletes in New York City to learn how to leverage their visibility and the power of sport to support health and development priorities

April 21, 2003, New York, NY – Top athletes from around the world are at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health April 22-23 for a special education seminar that is highlighting the important role sport can play in the health and development of children and communities in resource- poor and war-ravaged countries.

Athletes participating include US Olympians Summer Sanders, Jenny Thompson and Luke Bodensteiner, Zambian soccer superstar Kalusha Bwalya, Canadian rower Silken Laumann, Brazilian track and field star Jose Luiz Barbosa, Norwegian speed skater Adne Sondral and Kenyan marathoner Tegla Loroupe. In total, thirty athletes from 15 different countries will take part.

This first-of-its-kind training session for athletes is being spearheaded by Right To Play, an athlete-driven humanitarian organization that uses sport and play to deliver child development programs. These programs foster the healthy physical, social and emotional development of children, build important life skills including self-esteem, leadership, fair play, communications and teamwork and teach peace building skills including conflict resolution, cooperation, tolerance and respect.

“When two-time gold medalist Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia returned from the Olympics, more than one million people welcomed him home in the streets of Addis Ababa,” said Johann Koss, Right To Play president and four time Olympic gold medalist. “Our goal is to translate this power to convene people and attention into opportunities to address important health and development issues.”

The training session, being delivered with the support of the Mailman School and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will focus on how these athletes can leverage the universal love of sport and their own visibility to support health and development priorities in their home countries. In particular, topics of discussion will include the role sport and athletes can play in furthering the Millennium Development Goals related to disease prevention (HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and measles), vaccination and immunization, gender equity and universal access to quality primary education.

“Right To Play is taking advantage of an important opportunity to educate and motivate kids in settings where even the simplest information about disease prevention can save lives,” stated Allan Rosenfield, MD, Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health. “The Mailman School is proud to have participated in the curriculum development and to help provide these athletes with the tools to go out into communities and make a difference,” he added.

Speakers at the training session will include Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Columbia University Earth Institute and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan; Dr. Allan Rosenfield, Dean, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; Eveline Herfkens, U.N. Secretary-General's Executive Coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals Campaign; Gertrude Mongella, President of the African Association of Women’s Advocacy and a Member of Parliament in Tanzania; and Dr. Johann Olav Koss, President, Right To Play and four-time Olympic Gold Medalist.
“Sport is fast becoming recognized as an important and effective development tool,” said Koss. “Following this training session, Right To Play will work with these athletes in their home countries to further capitalize on this potential and realize tangible advances for children in the most disadvantaged situations including refugees, former child combatants and children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.”

Other top international athletes attending include:

Austria
Oliver Stamm, Beach Volleyball
Canada
Nikki Dryden, Swimming
Ethiopia
Eden Tesfaye, Table Tennis
Derartu Tulu, Track & Field
Ghana
Alberta Sackey, Football
Mozambique
Elisa Cossa, Track & Field
Marc dos Santos, Football
Netherlands
Marcella Boerma, Snowboarding
Jeroen Straathof, Speed Skating
Bart Veldkamp, Speed Skating
Norway
Jan Kvalheim, Beach Volleyball
Pakistan
Hassan Akmal, Tennis
Rwanda
Safari Gasisa, Basketbal
Agnes Hitimana, Table Tennis
Tanzania
Juma Ikangaa, Track & Field
Azizy Mwaruka, Powerlifter & Basketball
United States
Nikki Stone, Aerials
Eli Wolff, Paralympic Soccer
Tim Wiley, Luge
Zambia
Victoria Chisimba, Squash
Ellen Hight, Swimming

Background – Right To Play
Right To Play currently runs "Sport for Development" programs in 19 countries for disadvantaged children including refugees, children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and former child combatants. Right To Play’s projects include several in Pakistan for Afghani refugees. In addition to their focus on health, these programs build important life skills, including self-esteem, leadership, fair play, communications and teamwork, and teach important peace building skills including conflict resolution, cooperation, tolerance and respect. www.righttoplay.com

About the Mailman School of Public Health
The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 800 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students and over 200 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences.

CONTACT: Randee Sacks, Mailman School of Public Health, 212-305-5635