Mumbai, India, October 11, 2023: The International Olympic Committee with the Olympic Museum has aligned with Reliance Foundation to build on the success of the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) in India and signed a new cooperation agreement.
This agreement underscores the organisations’ shared priority to promote Olympic values through sport among young people.
The new cooperation was agreed upon by IOC President Thomas Bach and Nita Ambani, IOC Member in India and Reliance Foundation Founder Chairperson, during a visit to the Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RYFC) football academy in Mumbai this week.
“Sport has the ability to transform the lives of young people,” said President Bach. “We welcome Reliance Foundation joining as an OVEP implementation partner and we look forward to bringing the Olympic values to even more students, first in the Mumbai area and then hopefully across the state of Maharashtra. Respect, friendship, fair play and solidarity are values that young people can benefit from and imbibe for life. And the most important aspect is solidarity with one and all.
“The word ‘together’ in the Olympic motto, Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together, expressed this sentiment of solidarity. With the OVEP programme, we want to reach out to all children and young people, who may not always have access to sport and healthy lifestyles,” President Bach added.
Mrs. Ambani said: “Reliance Foundation is delighted to partner with IOC for OVEP and we are really looking forward to this partnership. OVEP brings both sports and education together. With this partnership, we can hope to positively impact the 250 million school-going children of India, reaching out to the remotest villages and regions, giving them options for a more disciplined, healthier, fitter and wholesome lifestyle. Children are our future and we need to give them the right to education and the right to play.”
To mark the occasion, around 80 RYFC students took part in games alongside more than 100 children from Reliance Foundation schools and their NGO partners.
OVEP is an initiative led by the Olympic Museum that advances IOC OLympism365 strategy. Launched in India in 2022 with the Abhinav Bindra Foundation in the Indian state of Odisha, OVEP is one of the first major IOC projects to be implemented in India.
Source: IOC