World Olympic Day 2014

World Olympic Day 2014: “Move, Learn and discover”

Over the last 20 years Olympic Day has been associated with Olympic Day Runs all over the world. From 45 participating National Community Development-Green Cameroon (1)Olympic Committees (NOCs) in the first edition in 1987, the numbers have grown to nearly 200 participating NOCs. What’s more, many of the participating NOCs are in Africa – proving the event’s worldwide appeal.

Olympic Day is nowadays developing into much more than just a sports event. Based on the three pillars “move”, “learn” and “discover”, National Olympic Committees and NGOs are deploying sports, cultural and educational activities. Some countries have incorporated the event into the school curriculum and, in recent years, many NGOs have added concerts and exhibitions to the celebration. Recent activities have included meetings for children and young people with top athletes and the development of new web sites directing people to programs in their neighborhood

Working at the intersection between sport and the environment, Green Cameroon is a Cameroonian based non-governmental organization led by young environmentalists who adore sports. Setting the example, this NGO seek to inspire Cameroonians to be environmental champions. The objective is to transform community sports infrastructure so as to make it collectively electricity independent, water neutral and have zero waste by 2025. In addition to the environmental and social benefits, the initiative is to promote love for sport.

A degraded environment can have a negative impact on sport, the Olympic Games and, most importantly, on the athletes. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), Olympic Movement and Green Cameroon at large considers environmental responsibility as an integral part of Olympism, along with sport and culture, and works to acknowledge and encourage the implementation of good environmental practices in the field of sport.

A mainstay of our program is to inspire young people to look after their local environment through simple, hands-on educational solutions, generating behavioral change and engaged in sporting activities. The project also empowers our young staff in areas such as public speaking, event logistics and budgeting to benefit them in their chosen careers.

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