I was recently invited to Havana, Cuba where I was privileged and honored to give a presentation as a panelist in the International Workshop on Physical Activity and Quality of Life at CubaMotricidad. Since there were multiple seminars being held simultaneously, our session opened with a presentation on the United Nations Population Fund’s global and regional approach to an aging population and implications of quality of life for the elderly.
United Nations Special Envoy for Sport for Development and Peace addressing delegates in Havana, Cuba.
One may wonder how does a program like Kidsquash that focuses on children between the ages of 8 to 17 apply to the elderly and quality of life? The core of my presentation was to share lessons from the Kidsquash model to improve access to physical activity and promote well-being with an eye for global replication that could be adapted to meet the population needs of a host country.
My fellow panelists presented physical activity, community-based interventions in Finland, Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia across age a variety of age levels. While there were differences for each countries’ experience, the common theme that emerged from our session and the conference at large, was that planned, coordinated and targeted physical activity, community interventions can play a key role in making a better world. In the case of Kidsquash and other programs balancing issues of social entrepreneurship, volunteerism and sustainability are critical.
Explorations in Sport for Development and Peace 