CM Naveen Patnaik meets OFCH delegation, extends invitation to IOC President to visit Odisha

Bhubaneswar: A team of delegates led by Director Olympic Foundation for culture and Heritage (OFCH) today met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and discussed the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) being implemented in the state.

The OFCH delegation included Angelita Teo, Director of Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage- International Olympic Committee, Frederique Jamolli, Head International Cultural Affairs, IOC, and Xenia Kourgouzova, Senior Manager Education, IOC and Olympian Abhinav Bindra, Founder, Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust.

Welcoming the members, Chief Minister Patnaik applauded the effort of the IOC to promote the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) amongst the school students in Odisha, with focus on the values of Friendship, Excellence and Respect.

The members appreciated the support extended by the Chief Minister and the Odisha Government in making this unique programme a success.

Noteworthy, Odisha was the first state to implement OVEP in India and Chief Minister Patnaik had launched the initiative in May 2022. Since then 32000 young children have been impacted by this programme which was introduced in 90 schools across Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. The program is all set to scale up and impact more than 1.5 lakh school children in 250 schools in Odisha.

 

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The Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage will be visiting the OVEP intervened school in Bhubaneswar on 3rd and 4th April, 2023.

The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Odisha Department of School and Mass Education (SME) and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust.

The delegates were delighted by the decision of Chief Minister to support the Olympic Forest Network program of the IOC through more than 1 million trees plantation this year. The IOC had earlier announced its commitment to be climate positive in 2024 in alignment with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in April 2021.

Chief Minister handed over the delegation a letter invitating the IOC President Thomas Bach to Odisha when he comes to India for the IOC session in Mumbai later this year in October.

The delegation expressed its pleasure to see the support of the state government towards sports and promoting Olympic values. Chief Minister thanked them for their visit and committed on support for more such projects in Odisha.