Presentation By GOC President at Multi Stakeholders Meeting By PATH Ghana And Olympism365

Presentation By Mr. Ben Nunoo Mensah, President Ghana Olympic Committee

# Multi-Stakeholder Meeting On Sport, Physical Activity And Health

@Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra. Thursday, April 18, 2024

Mr. Chairman

Associate Director, Olympism 365, Mr. Ollie Dudfield

UN Resident Coordinator, Dr. Olwen Byrne

Mrs. Hilda Opoku from the UN Habitat

Chief Director MOH, Alhaji Hafiz Adam

Chief Director MOYs, Mr. William Kartey

Dr. Kuma Aboagye, DG-Ghana Health Service

Dr. Patience Cofie, Country Manager PATH

Md. Helen McGuire, PATH GLOBAL Office

Representatives from various stakeholders

Friends from the media

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is such a refreshing news to know that, Ghana has been selected as one of the five countries to form the first phase of the newly initiated Community Sport and Health Cooperation between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) with PATH as the implementers.

As President of the Olympic Movement in Ghana, I am particularly excited about this initiative as it falls in line with the Olympic Values and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)3, which is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

This new collaboration between the IOC and PATH will increase access to health-enhancing community sport activities for over one million people across five countries by the year 2025.  And as a Ghanaian, I am very glad that this country was selected as one of the first five.

As you may all know the global optimism for sport, as ‘an important enabler for the SDGs by the United Nations appears in many countries’ policy documents. In Ghana, sport is linked to the social dimension of the SDGs. But the acknowledgement of the potential of sport as an enabler alone cannot be a decisive evidence of deep commitment or successful implementation.

According to the Association of People for Practical Life Education (APPLE), There is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence on the positive effects of sport, physical activity and active recreation as part of a healthy lifestyle.

The positive and direct effects of engaging in regular physical activity are noticeably apparent in the prevention of several chronic or Non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, osteoporosis and depression.

The Report from the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace states that young people can benefit from physical activity as it contributes to developing healthy bones, efficient heart, and lung function as well as improved motor skills and cognitive function.

Therefore, there is the need to encourage Sports and Health well-being inclusion in sports by developing the interest of the youth from the schools in their communities.

Reports from Ghana’s 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth recommended that children between the ages 5 to 17 years should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity daily.

However, there is very limited empirical evidence on how much physical activity Ghanaian children and youth engage in.

Although the Ghana Education Service requires at least 80 minutes per week of physical education in schools, in practice, this is often not achieved.

When children and youth fail to achieve the minimum recommended physical activity levels, they are at risk of adverse health consequences.

Mr Chairman, according to the IOC, the new cooperation with WHO and PATH, will strengthen the role of sport in building healthy and active communities with three main objectives.

1.       Improve access and retention in targeted community sports and physical activity programmes, thereby supporting more people, particularly women and girls and people from diverse backgrounds and abilities, to be more active.

2.       Enhance knowledge, understanding of, and appreciation for, the multiple benefits of regular physical activity and sports participation, which will lead to the prevention of non-communicable diseases, improved mental health and well-being and social connections.

3.       Strengthen policy planning and investment in community sport and physical activity participation opportunities and infrastructure as well as the physical activity legacies of the Olympic Games and other Global sport events.

The Ghana Olympic Committee will join and support the full implementation of all the action plans that will be drawn from today’s stakeholder’s engagement.

To our four key Partner-Ministries, that is Sports, Health, Education and Local Government, I want to make a passionate appeal, that in drawing up your various policies and programmes, please make a conscious effort to link these policies and programmes to the vision of Olympism 365.

 “Sports is a low-cost but very high-impact tool which we can all use to build together a more peaceful, more equal and more sustainable world for everyone, 365 days a year”

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, at this juncture I present to you ‘Olympism 365’                (VIDEO)

If we can all use this low-cost, high-impact tool to eradicate poverty, end hunger, give good health and education, provide clean water, sanitation and energy, push for climate action, strive for peace, justice and build strong institutions, this world will be a much much better place for generations unborn.

Thank you.