Brasília, January 13, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The ex-representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) in Central America and Brazil, Agop Kayayan, said today, following a meeting with Minister of Sports, Agnelo Queiroz, that his proposal to enact new projects of sports activities to combat social inequality and educational projects oriented towards the health and well-being of the population was well received.

According to Kayayan, these activities need to be carried out through joint efforts involving the federal government, communities, non-governmental organizations, churches, and labor unions.

At the moment the Ministry has ongoing: the Navigate program, to teach aquatic sports to needy children; Solidary Sports, including sports, food supplementation, and cultural activities; Painting Liberty, which uses prison labor to manufacture athletic equipment distributed free of cost to schools; and Sports at School, which stimulates physical education in the public school system. (DAS)