Refugees win as result of UN-backed initiative on Olympic clothing campaign "Giving is Winning"

Thousands of refugees in Asia will continue to be inspired by the heroism of athletes at the Beijing Olympics, even though the curtain has fallen on the Games, thanks to a United Nations-backed campaign in which competitors donated their surplus sportswear.

Some 30,000 pieces of sportswear, mainly from the National Olympic Committees of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and China, were donated during the Games, bringing the total collected so far in the "Giving is Winning" programme, run jointly by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to 82,000.

"For the refugees, these are not only useful items of clothing, but a symbol that people in the world beyond the refugee camps, especially famous athletes from the Olympics, care about them," said Veerapong Vongvarotai, UNHCR regional representative in China.

Every athlete's room in the Olympic Village contained biodegradable plastic bags to allow them to make contributions, which poured in from competitors from teams both large and small, including Andorra, Armenia, Bermuda, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mauritius and Turkmenistan.

The clothing received prior to the start of the Games was distributed to refugees in Rwanda, Tanzania, Chad, Moldova, Georgia and Panama, while the latest donations are headed for Asia.

The "Giving is Winning" campaign, which will run until the end of the year, originally started during the 2004 Athens Olympics, during which 30,000 articles of clothing were collected to inspire young refugees in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Eritrea, Kosovo and Tanzania.

UN envoy stresses Olympic Games in Beijing as unifying nations and peoples

“Sports can help bring people together, as witnessed by major international competitions such as the Soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games,” the United Nations envoy tasked with promoting sport for development and peace said Friday.

“Sport is a universal language that unites people and breaks down barriers, whether they are ethical, religious, economic or social,” Wilfried Lemke told reporters, as he briefed them on his activities during his first few months as the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace.

Mr. Lemke, a former athlete and sports teacher, added that “sports have a vital role in society, as they teach fundamental values such as discipline, fair play, confidence and tolerance”.

He also echoed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in noting that sports can be an instrument to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set of anti-poverty targets world leaders pledged to realize by 2015.

During a recent visit to Africa, Mr. Lemke went to the poor townships in South Africa and the slums of Kenya’s capital Nairobi, where his Office had some initiatives for children in partnership with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

There he had a chance to witness how sports can be used to promote development. He will also be lacing up his running shoes in November, when he plans to participate in the New York City Marathon to raise money for a project in Nairobi.

But prior to that, the Special Adviser will be heading to Beijing for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. He will be chairing a meeting of the International Working Group on Sports for Development and Peace ahead of the Olympic opening ceremony on 8 August.

The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the UN travels on Tuesday to China, where he is slated to hold meetings with President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, as well as with the United Nations Country Team.

He is also expected to visit Olympic Games sites and speak at the Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.