30 August 2024, Paris — The Learning Planet Institute (LPI) is pleased to announce it will launch, along with the United Nations University (UNU), the first Phoenix Award, named after the mythical creature that rises from the ashes to recognize resilience and achievement. The Phoenix Award will honour the eight refugee athletes competing at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris — Salman Abbariki, Guillaume Junior Atangana, Hadi Darvish, Amelio Castro Grueso, Hadi Hassanzada, Sayed Amir Hossein Hosseini, Ibrahim Al Hussein, and Zakia Khudadadi — for their extraordinary human perseverance and performance and carry with it a promise to accompany the athletes in their educational endeavours after the Games.
Since 2006, LPI has been dedicated to reinventing learning for all ages through collective intelligence in order to build sustainable and inclusive learning societies able to rise to complex global challenges. On 4 September, LPI, in partnership with UNU and its wider community will welcome the athletes of the 2024 Refugee Paralympic Team, who have defied significant challenges, and give them the acknowledgement and visibility they deserve while celebrating their fortitude and resilience. Believing in lifelong learning as a human right, LPI is offering both online and in-person educational resources that will be free of charge and tailored carefully to each individual Phoenix Awardee depending on the athlete’s specific needs and desires to support them for their future beyond the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Exploring, experimenting and sharing new ways of learning and cooperating to meet the needs of youth and the planet, LPI will work with its supporters and global network to assist them with their life transition, and meet the qualifications necessary to continue their educational experience. This commitment will provide an ongoing and long-term resource for these athletes to develop and adapt their skills and fulfill their professional ambitions.
Francois Taddei, LPI Founder, says of this initiative: “The athletes we are celebrating are among the most resilient people on earth, who have overcome not only disability but shocking personal life and death stories. We look forward to learning from them while striving to assist with their educational needs after the Games. The Phoenix Award aims to empower the athletes and the communities they represent.”
Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of UNU and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, emphasizes that: “The 2024 Refugee Paralympic Team represents the best of humanity. Their success in overcoming challenges most of us cannot even imagine is a bright light of determination that can inspire us to find shared solutions to global problems. We are proud to learn from their enduring spirit and strength in the face of immense obstacles. As a research organization dedicated to overcoming the planet’s most pressing challenges, UNU is honoured to collaborate with LPI to support these refugee athletes with learning opportunities.”
For further information and images, please contact:
Ben Rawlingson Plant
Tel: +1 646 417 1171
Email: brawlingsonplant@gmail.com
Kiki Bowman
UNU Head of Communications
Email: bowman@unu.edu
