You’ve heard of Right to Education, and Right to Food; now here is a bunch of eminent sports personalities who are championing the cause of “The Right to Play Sports”. The Bangalore School Sports Foundation (BSSF), which consists of eminent sports personalities, launched the Red Ribbon Revolution here on Wednesday.
The initiative aims to eradicate stigma and discrimination against children and youngsters living with HIV by giving students between 5 and 14 years an opportunity to play various sports. The BSSF will tie up with various corporates, government bodies, communities and other organisations to advocate for changes in public policies to end discrimination.
Objective
Speaking at a press conference, Elvis Joseph, founder of the BSSF said, “The main objective of the revolution is to eradicate discrimination among people living with HIV/AIDS by using sports as a medium of transformation. By doing this, we will be bringing people living with HIV to the mainstream.” He emphasised that there was a need to provide opportunities to youngsters so that they could led “confident and productive” lives.
He said, “In order to improve the environmental, social and economic conditions that and promotes the health of people living with HIV, the sporting community can be the only key partner in reaching out to children and youth across the country.”
Eminent sports personalities such as Elvis Joseph, Reeth Abraham, S. Sreesanth along with Olga Alava Mercedes Vargas-Miss Earth and Miss Ecuador (Goodwill Ambassador) were present.
