[By NBC-1TV K, Y Yi] LAUSANNE, Switzerland (October 30, 2021) - The Taekwondo Humanitarian
Foundation (THF) Board met in Pully, Lausanne on 30 October to discuss a number
of key issues and appoint a new Board member.
Angelo Cito, Chairman of the Fondazione Umanitaria Italiana di Taekwondo
and President of FITA, was elected as a member of the THF Board for a
three-year mandate during the meeting.
THF Chairman Chungwon Choue said:
“We are delighted to welcome Angelo to the THF Board. Angelo brings a lot of
experience and expertise and will help us strengthen the support we provide to
refugees around the world, through taekwondo.”
In other business, the Board discussed the THF’s partnership with the Olympic Refuge Foundation which will see the implementation of a
project for refugees within a consortium of five other NGOs in Paris. The
project will start by the end of January 2022 at the latest and will last for
three years. The project will be a Paris 2024 legacy programme.
Chairman Choue added: “We are
delighted to partner with the Olympic Refuge Foundation and work in
collaboration with other NGOs to implement this new project. At the THF we have
always made it clear we are very open to working with other organisations and
other sports to expand the opportunities for refugees. For us it is about
empowering as many refugees as possible through sport.”
During the meeting there was also a
presentation on the THF projects that were underway in 2021 including in Jordan
(Azraq camp), Turkey (Elbeyli camp), Rwanda (Mahama and Kiziba camps) and
Switzerland (Lausanne). The project in Switzerland started
in August 2021 with the support of EVAM (Etablissement Vaudois d’Accueil
des Migrants) and BCI (Bureau Cantonal pour l’Intégration des Etrangers
et la prévention du Racisme). In total, 2,500 refugees are taking
part in THF programs
around the world.
The meeting was hosted by the World
Baseball and Softball Confederation at their headquarters. WBSC President Riccardo
Fraccari said:
“I am pleased to
have been able to personally welcome President Choue and the Taekwondo
Humanitarian Foundation Board to the WBSC headquarters. Hosting the THF Board
meeting is a symbol of our continued close collaboration following the MOU
signed with THF and World Taekwondo last year to promote humanitarian, social
inclusion, peace and development-supporting activities, especially for youth.
The international baseball and softball community is proud to use our sports as
a vehicle to encourage good health and well-being in communities, especially
for refugees for whom the WBSC has pledged to use baseball and softball to
improve accessibility to sport”.