One of the important and noteworthy occurrences of the first day of the International Harvard Conference, which is being held in Greece hosted by Olympiacos, was the contact of the participants with a representative of UNESCO. Using technology, in this case through Skype, Mr. Alexander Schischlik, Chief of Section Youth and Sport, could… be “present” in Karaiskakis Stadium and talk with the scholars from all over the world that are participating in the conference!
Mr. Schischlik is the responsible for the sector for Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO and from Paris, where he’s staying, he accepted Mr. Ortega’s proposal to recognize and to “sign” (orally, in a first level) the “Athens Principles on the right to participate in sports”. This was something he did with joy, embracing the values that these “Principles” represent. Mr. Hurst Hannum, as well as the Senator George Mitchell talked to him in detail about the importance of these values, supported by the “Athens Principles” and he himself expressed his joy to participate in this historic context.
Mr. Ortega invited Mr. Schischlik to the next conference, which will take place in June 2018 and will be dedicated to the enforcement of these “Principles”. The UNESCO representative accepted happily this invitation.
Continuing the discussion in the panel and changing the theme, this time about sports and the refugees, Mr. Mark Doidge discussed with Mr. Schischlik the way in which small groups of activists could cooperate, in favor of the refugees, with great institutions, which defend their rights. It became obvious that both parts are indispensable in order to achieve progress and Mr. Schischlik stressed that even though “sport is not frequently regarded as a driving force for development”, he personally believes the exact opposite. This opinion is clearly in absolute harmony with the beliefs and the objectives of this conference, as well as of the “Athens Principles”!
