Peace and Sport founder Joël Bouzou visits Ghana

Joël Bouzou, the Founder and President of Peace and Sport, a global initiative to promote the use of sport to foster dialogue and reconciliation around the world has arrived in Ghana to deliver a one-day lecture on Peace and Sports.

Bouzou will deliver the lecture on "Peace and Sports" on Friday, May 18 at 10 am at the Alisa Hotel in Accra.

The former Olympic Bronze medalist touched down at the Kotoko International Airport on Thursday night with a promise to invest in the efforts to consolidate peace in Ghana.

He said with tensions rising across the world, it had become even more important for citizens to make conscious efforts to safeguard global peace.

He said sports has proven to be a vital asset in promoting unity among people from diverse backgrounds and orientations.

Bouzou was welcomed on arrival by hiplife artiste Okyeame Kwame, who assured that all was set for Friday's programme.

Background of Joël Bouzou

Bouzou grew up in Auch, in a sporting family. His father was a PE teacher and Joël participated in many different sports so that he naturally discovered Modern Pentathlon.

He participated in four Olympic Games (Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992) and won the team bronze medal in 1984. He won the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in 1987, beating Milan Kadlec. He is currently Secretary General of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne.

A member of the Executive Committee for the World Olympians Association (WOA) from 2003–2008, Bouzou also founded a French association Rassemblement par le Sport (Together through Sport) with the aim of helping to socially integrate young people living in volatile suburbs in France through sport.

Peace and sport

Bouzou is President and Founder of a global initiative called Peace and Sport L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport founded in 2007 to promote the use of sport to foster dialogue and reconciliation everywhere where it's needed.

Peace and Sport, is a neutral international organization based in the Principality of Monaco and placed under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Distinctions and other activities

In France, Bouzou is an Officer in The National Order of Merit and decorated with the Legion of Honour, one of the highest civil distinctions of the French Republic. He also holds the Gold Medal for Youth and Sport (in France) and the Silver Medal for Youth and Sport (in Monaco).

In March 2010 he was awarded a Honoris Causa Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University for Peace in recognition of "his unique worldwide leadership role in promoting peace and mutual understanding among different cultures, and his leadership of organizations devoted to these objectives".

He is also an advisor to H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.

In December 2011, Bouzou was elected President of the World Olympians Association, the official organization for 100,000 athletes throughout the world who have participated in an Olympic event.