LEBANON: U.N. youth camp promotes soccer and health as alternative to drugs and crime

Record ID: 345375

  • Title: LEBANON: U.N. youth camp promotes soccer and health as alternative to drugs and crime
  • Date: 24th October 2007
  • Summary: (MER1) JOUNIEH, LEBANON (OCTOBER 22, 2007) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF JOUNIEH MUNICIPALITY BUILDING BANNER READING "U.N. OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME" AND "GLOBAL SPORTS FUND"
  • Embargoed: 8th November 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Health,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVACHG3CLD0SI6V6PEJGLUIC3TEF
  • Story Text: Youths from across Middle East take part in a U.N.-sponsored four-day soccer training camp in Lebanon which aims to promote a healthy lifestyle as an alternative to drugs and crime.
    About 100 teenagers from across the Arab world are taking part in a four-day U.N. soccer training camp in Lebanon designed to keep them away from drugs and crime.
    Over four days, the 12 to 15 year-olds, who are from Lebanon, Qatar, Palestine, Oman, Iraq, Yemen, and Bahrain, will undergo extensive soccer training and take part in numerous competitions organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
    In addition to promoting healthy lifestyles, the camp's programme aims to bring together younger generations from different backgrounds through sport and specifically, soccer.

    "The point of this camp stems from this, from the role that sport plays in building nations and cultures and in keeping youth away from everything that harms them, whether it is drugs or crime or any other bad habit," said Sheikh Saud Bin Abdel Rahman Al Thani, the Secretary General of Qatar's Olympic Committee, which collaborated with the U.N. to open the camp in Lebanon. Qatar is also the main financier of the U.N.'s Global Sports Fund.
    The UNODC's Regional Coordinator in the Gulf, Mohammed Al-Mulla, says the camp in Lebanon is unique and marks a new achievement for the U.N.

    "This is a new project, the first of its kind in the world. The U.N. has many anti-drugs projects happening around the world but this project is a new achievement. It is the first camp that we have organised in collaboration with Qatar through its olympic committee and with Lebanon's ministry of youth and sport," he said, referring the involvement of the Lebanese Ministry of Sports and the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC).
    As for the teenage participants, many say they are enjoying the experience and are learning new skills.

    "This a good camp, we have learned a lot of things, about discipline and getting to know people and experiencing something different from what is in Qatar. There are many good things we have learned from the lectures," 15-year-old Nawwaf from Qatar said.

    "Sport is very good and it's better for youths than doing drugs and smoking and getting drunk. It's better for them to play sports. It's good for their health," adds 14-year-old Isra'a, a Palestinian living in Lebanon.
    The U.N. soccer camp is running until Thursday (October 25) at the Fouad Shehab Sports Compound in Jounieh.
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