Nearly 5,000 participants met at the Place des Nations
More than 1,800 people took part remotely using the dedicated mobile application
Relive the emotions of this emblematic day with the photo gallery and video
The 3rd edition of “Walk the Talk: the Health for All Challenge” organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) took place on Sunday May 22 in Geneva.
This event aimed to encourage the population to take action for their health, in Geneva or elsewhere.
The Place des Nations in Geneva woke up this Sunday morning at 7:45 a.m. with numerous activities such as a dance initiation and a warm-up session as well as the opening ceremony of this 3rd edition. The speech by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO, launched the event: “Thank you for being present today for Walk The Talk: The challenge of health for all. I thank the Canton and the City of Geneva to welcome us today We are very lucky that here in Switzerland we have access to vaccines and high quality health care. But as you know, not everyone has this. luck in the world. The pandemic has taught the world a valuable lesson, that health is the most precious commodity on earth." The WHO Director-General concluded his speech with a smile on his face: “Walk The Talk should be a daily event for everyone.”
The starts of the two courses of 3 km and 4.2 km were given at 9:00 a.m. with the Genevan champion Tadesse Abraham who took advantage of the event to give wise advice to the participants and offer them the opportunity to run alongside him. "It's really a pleasure to see so many people moving. I think the importance of sport is obvious, we saw it during the covid period, everyone was doing sport. It's very important for our health to integrate sport into our lives" expresses the Geneva champion.
4,963 participants ran, walked or used their wheelchair on these different routes. Walker Marie expresses her enthusiasm for this event: “It was great to be able to relive this event. There is no pressure, no timer. We practice physical activity in a group simply to have a good time.”
Yoga and meditation classes were also given and Australian Football demonstrations were held against a background of African music in front of the WHO buildings. All these free events had the sole aim of promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Walk The Talk all over the world
The event was not limited to Geneva since the 3 km and 4.2 km courses could be completed anywhere in the world thanks to a dedicated mobile application. This allowed participants to race the distance of their choice. Throughout the course, they received audio messages motivating them to complete this challenge.
In total, more than 1,800 uses of the application were made this Sunday, May 22. A proven format that helps people get moving for their health.
The World Health Organization would like to congratulate the 6,260 people who participated. She would also like to thank all the Staff Association volunteers who were present and worked to make the event a success as well as the competent authorities of the City and Canton of Geneva without whom nothing would be possible.
Next project: a healthy 2022 World Cup
The next WHO project is linked to the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosted in Qatar. Indeed, their project entitled “A Healthy World Cup” aims to ensure the organization of the World Cup while prioritizing health and safety and to ensure that it leaves a legacy in becoming a landmark and lasting model that encourages the consideration of health, safety and well-being in future major sporting events.
To find out more about this, please consult the dedicated web page.
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