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Edwin Moses to open Next Step 2007 Conference

Tim Crooks - 09/08/2007

Edwin Moses
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Laureus World Sports Academy member and sporting icon Edwin Moses will speak at the official opening of The Next Step 2007 conference in Windhoek, Namibia, this September where members of the international sport and development community will focus on issues of youth development and empowerment through sport.

The double Olympic gold medalist and legendary 400 metres hurdles star said that the conference’s message of using sport as a platform for social change was central to his work in sport now; “The conference is an important opportunity for knowledge exchange amongst development practitioners. I have high hopes that the discussions will have far reaching impact.

Moses is the chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy and is one of the few athletes to become a true global ambassador of sport and its potential to change young lives:

“My fellow Laureus Academy members and I understand the unique power of sport to change the world. As Nelson Mandela, the Patron of Laureus, said: ‘Sport has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair’.

“This concept is the driving force behind the work we do at the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and I shall be explaining to the delegates how the Laureus model of using sport as a tool for social change can help young people to lift themselves out of difficult circumstances and improve their chances in life.”

UK Sport have partnered with the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa Zone VI to host The Next Step 2007 conference which follows on from the successful Next Step 2005 which took place in Livingstone, Zambia; the first time an international conference on sport and development had been organised in Africa.

UK Sport’s International Project Consultant, Martin Niblett, said that having Moses involved with Next Step 2007 would be an inspiration to the sports leaders attending; “Having Edwin Moses participating at the conference in Windhoek is fantastic news. Not only will he inspire those young sports leaders attending through his experiences as an Olympic Champion but he will also contribute greatly to the conference debate through his development work with young people as Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy. UK Sport is delighted to have Edwin and other leading figures from the international sport for development movement at Next Step 2007.”

The Next Step 2007 conference will be held from 19-22 September 2007 in Windhoek, Namibia and will bring together a wide range of partners and participants from the international sport and development community. The conference will focus on sport’s contribution to the building of a peaceful and better world by empowering young sports leaders to champion the Olympic values of friendship and fair play and become the leaders of tomorrow.

The Rt Hon Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics and London, will be attending the conference along with Ministers from the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA) Zone VI region, former leading athletes Frank Fredericks and Dame Kelly Holmes, representatives from international organisations including the UN, IPC & UEFA, and leading figures from the throughout the international sport for development movement.