In celebration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, the exhibition highlights what the UN and players all around the world do to harness the power of sport.
A powerful image of the Rwandan women’s sitting volleyball team was featured in a UN exhibition celebrating the International Day of Sport for Development (IDSDP) and Peace on 6 April.
The photo, taken by Simon Bruty for Olympic Information Services (OIS) during the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, shows the Rwanda team playing a preliminary game against Iran.
In Rio the Rwandan women made history becoming the first women’s sitting volleyball team to represent an African country at a Paralympic Games. With their appearance, they did not only make a sporting impact, they also helped to heal the wounds inflicted upon Rwandan society after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
“I am delighted that the photography of Simon Bruty is to be included in the United Nations exhibition,” Anthony Edgar, Head of Olympic Information Services for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said. “The success of the OIS photographic initiative went far been beyond our expectations and this illustrates the professionalism of the photographers we used.
On IDSDP, the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) is carrying out a digital campaign #WePlayTogether to encourage organisations and individuals who support or carry out sport for development and peace activities to partake in the commemoration of the IDSDP.
The campaign has been inviting participants to share a picture on social media that represents for them the “power of sport to promote peace, unity and inclusion”.
The campaign joined the UN Secretary-General’s call to make “2017 a year for peace”.
The International Paralympic Committee was celebrating IDSDP by sharing powerful stories of how Para sport and Para athletes contribute towards sustainability and peace all over the world.
<<https://www.paralympic.org>>