Loroupe named UN person of the year 2016

El Capitan · 2016-10-31T18:19:35+00:00

By PAULINE KAIRU Athletics legend Tegla Chepkite Loroupe has been named the 2016 United Nations Person of the Year. The long-distance track and road runner was recognised for her efforts in getting refugees to participate in the Olympic Games. In June, 2014, Ms Loroupe, a global spokeswoman for peace, women’s rights and education, organised the first peace race in Kakuma Refugee Camp to commemorate World Refugee Day and promote peace in the region. A statement from the UN Information Centre, Nairobi, making the announcement on Tuesday, said Ms Loroupe won the award for her efforts and her leadership in taking peace to conflict zones in Africa. The world record holder over multiple road race distances and formerly in the marathon, whom then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan named a UN Ambassador of Sports in 2006, is an international sports ambassador for the world athletics governing body IAAF and UN children’s agency Unicef. The UN said: “Loroupe, with her consistent advocacy in 2015, had succeeded in lobbying the International Olympic Committee to give a chance to refugees with athletics talent to participate in the Olympics. As a result, 10 refugees (five from Kakuma) were selected for Rio Olympics”. UNHCR representative Raouf Mazou said: “I don’t think anybody knows how the world felt when they saw a refugee Olympic team entering the stadium in Rio. They received a lot of applause from the world and it shows that people who go through a lot can reach the top of anything, sports in this case”.

Thread starter El Capitan
Start date Oct 31, 2016

El Capitan

JamiiForums uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.

Accept Learn more…

Back

Top Bottom

Forums

New posts

Loroupe named UN person of the year 2016

El Capitan

Senior Member

Our Community

Regional Communities