Wilfried Lemke, the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, accepted the invitation from the President of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, to visit Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic-related initiatives. Lemke will be updated on the various projects that are now in progress aimed at improving the city infrastructure and meeting the 2016 Games demands. 

The invitation was made by the Rio 2016 Organising Committee President during the Sport for Peace and Development Forum that was jointly organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the UN Office on Sport for Peace and Development in Geneva, Switzerland. During the event, Nuzman delivered a presentation on the social legacy of the Olympic Games, showing the improvements planned for the mass transportation system, the urbanisation of favelas as well as the Olympic Training Center and the X-Park.

“Nuzman offered me to visit a number of projects and initiatives during my next travel to Rio in July, to be able to gain a first-hand impression of the situation and the progress on that. I can assure you that we will continue to work on similar matters of relevance to both our organisations,” Lemke said. 

Nuzman expressed his appreciation for the IOC and UN initiative of staging the event, and reaffirmed the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and the Brazilian Olympic Committee pledge to continue working with both these institutions towards promoting development and peace through sport.