Mutombo's message to the youth"We hold the key to a better future for Africa." Those were the words of Dikembe Mutombo, the basketball star who plays for the Atlanta Hawks in the US National Basketball Association. He was speaking at the Global Meeting of Generations in Washington, DC, on 14 January where UNDP Administrator James Gustave Speth had just announced his appointment as UNDP's first Youth Emissary. Mr. Mutombo was clearly elated at being named to this unique position and did not hide his enthusiasm. He saw the appointment as an opportunity to further enhance the work he has been doing to try and better the lot of youths worldwide.
The first time I saw Mr. Mutombo play was against one of the New York teams several years ago. That day, he led his team to a dazzling victory. His impressive rebounds and dunks were the clinchers that put his team ahead. I was immediately impressed at his agility and dexterity with the ball, despite his outstanding physique. He was to go on to become one of the top players ever to grace the courts of the National Basketball Association.
But Mr. Mutombo's excellence on the court, I was to learn later, is only one of his many talents. A product of one of Kinshasa's most deprived neighbourhoods, where he spent most of his formative years, he made a commitment early in his career to use his success on the court to bring relief to children trapped in poverty all over the world. He was particularly concerned about children caught in desperate situations across the African continent. Contributing some of his earnings from basketball, Mr. Mutombo has already helped thousands of African children gain access to basic medical care.
Two years ago, he founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, which has become his main mechanism for contributing to the war against poverty. Through the foundation, he has raised and channelled thousand of dollars to development efforts in support of youth, focusing on improving health and education services specifically for children in order to raise their overall quality of life.
For Mr. Mutombo, his support for social development and youth, particularly in Africa, "has not just been a topic for speeches throughout my life -- rather it has been a way of life, or perhaps it has been my travelling companion."
He draws from his own experience growing up in Kinshasa to explain his
focus on the younger generation. "I know from personal experience that
you cannot talk about eradicating poverty without talking about our children."
For him, an investment in the youth is an investment in the world's future
-- its economy, its social health, its stability and its security.
NBA Photos
Not surprisingly, Mr. Mutombo has not limited himself to working in Africa, or in the developing world, because he realizes that the danger to the youth exists even in the most advanced countries. In the United States, he has been involved in the "Strong STARTS" programme (Strong Schools Taking Action to Reach Troubled Students) which assists emotionally disturbed adolescents and helps them to succeed in school.
Mr. Mutombo also serves as spokesman for the Atlanta Hawks "Team Up" programme, which encourages middle-school students in the United States to become active in their communities by participating in food drives and working in senior-citizen homes and soup kitchens.
In appointing him its first Youth Emissary, UNDP has recognized the important contribution that Mr. Mutombo has been making toward creating a world in which all young people are able to live healthy, fruitful, poverty-free lives. As Mr. Speth said while announcing Mr. Mutombo's appointment, the Youth Emissary will be co-opted officially into UNDP's worldwide "race against poverty." His major task will be to help bring visibility to youth-related development projects around the world -- those projects designed to help young people fight poverty in their communities and which provide a platform for the voice of youth on issues of poverty.
As early as this summer, Mr. Mutombo will begin to undertake field visits to some of UNDP's youth-oriented projects and will help in mobilizing international efforts at addressing the needs of the youth. At each stop, he will interact with both beneficiaries and their community to see how the project has affected their lives.
Although he is yet to decide which specific projects he would see during his visits, there is little doubt that he intends to bring the full weight of his personality, zeal and commitment to bear in focusing attention on the actions that target the eradication of poverty.
For a young man whose childhood ambition had been to become a medical doctor, the new assignment offers one more opportunity to Mr. Mutombo to fulfill his dream of helping those in need to overcome the biggest threat to their lives.
