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Rio 2016 and Education First to teach second language to over one million Brazilians

More than one million Brazilians will be trained in a second language after the Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Education First (EF) signed an agreement on Thursday, making the international education company the official supplier of language training services for the Games.

From 2015, EF will deliver language training to candidates for the Rio 2016 volunteer programme, organising committee staff and contractors, and Brazilian school children.

Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman said: "We are very pleased to partner with the expertise and experience of EF, to fulfil our common goal of creating a lasting legacy for language learning in Brazil.

"This programme will provide many thousands of volunteers and staff involved with the Rio 2016 Games with the language skills necessary to warmly welcome athletes and visitors from all around the world. The skills will also benefit these individuals in their future lives and careers, providing a positive contribution to society well beyond 2016."

The language training programme, which will also be integrated with the Rio 2016 education and culture programmes, will help prepare the Games volunteers by offering a one-year course. For the general public, a website will offer a basic English course and also provide information about the Games.

"We met with many companies before choosing which one would be our partner in this category," said Renato Ciuchini, Rio 2016’s Chief Commercial Officer. "Beside EF’s service quality, their main differential was that they were very focused on legacy. We thought of how to reach beyond what we needed for the Games and really bring benefits to the Brazilian people."

This focus on legacy means that all candidates for the Rio 2016 volunteer programme - not only those who are selected - will be trained in a second language. English, Spanish and French will be the main courses.

The agreement builds on EF’s long association with the Olympic Games, which stretches back to the Seoul Games in 1988. More recently it was official language supplier to the Beijing 2008 and Sochi 2014 Games.

...

Rio 2016

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The Rio 2016 website has changed its layout and appearance, with a new Construction Update section - http://www.rio2016.com/en - Source: Rio 2016.

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IOC tells Rio 2016 that there is not a moment to lose

21/03/2014

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Coordination Commission for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games today wrapped up its sixth visit to the Brazilian host city (19-21 March) with a clear message to the organisers that every second counts.

With just over two years to go until the Games open on 5 August 2016, the Commission indicated that a constant, concerted and integrated effort is required for the successful delivery of the Games and their legacy.

The Commission acknowledged the progress made in a number of areas since its last visit in September 2013 and IOC President Bach’s visit in February 2014, such as the finalisation of the overall venue master plan, the validation of Rio 2016’s lifetime budget, and the integration of the federal government’s efforts under President Rousseff’s Chief of Staff, Aloizio Mercadante.

A number of important decisions remain to be made, however. On 27 March, a crucial meeting between the federal authorities and key Games stakeholders will take place in Brasilia, where it is expected that the responsibilities for each Games-related project will be clarified, along with the associated funding, in order to avoid further significant delays in the delivery of the project.

The Commission conducted a full day of visits, assessing in detail the progress of all the venues in the Barra and Deodoro clusters. The delivery timelines of some of the venues for test events and the Games have faced delays, and now leave no margin for any further slippages. It is comforting that the risk level for each project has been clearly established and schedules of work clarified, and that a necessary sense of urgency is shared by all.

The next construction to start will be on the venues in the second Olympic Park in Deodoro. The city authorities should be commended for the rapid progress that has been made since taking over responsibility for the delivery of Deodoro, in addition to their large existing portfolio of works.

The Commission also praised the work of Rio 2016 and its partners to deliver a sustainable legacy from the Games. Public transport usage is expected to rise to 60 per cent by 2016, up from 12 per cent today; there will be a seven-fold increase in treated sewage around the Guanabara Bay by 2015; one million people will have the opportunity to learn English thanks to the Games; 75 new hotels are expected to be built, creating an estimated 11,000 new jobs; and numerous additional projects are already being organised by Rio 2016’s commercial partners.

“The Rio 2016 Olympic Games have great potential for being a very exciting event which leaves many legacies,” said IOC Coordination Commission Chair Nawal El Moutawakel. “But although progress is being made, each decision that is postponed and each subsequent delay will have a negative impact on delivery. Total focus and dedication are therefore required,” she continued. “The Olympic Movement stakeholders will continue to actively and constructively assist the organisers towards their short and long-term objectives.”

The President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, said: “We enter this crucial phase of our journey without a minute to lose, and certain that our partners in government share this vision”.

The months ahead will see sailors competing in the Guanabara Bay, as Rio 2016 launches its “Aquece Rio” test event campaign. This will be a major step in allowing the local population to start to feel the Games come to life. With the volunteer and ticketing campaigns to be launched in the autumn, soon all of Rio and Brazil will have the opportunity to get involved with the 2016 Olympic Games.

During its three-day visit, the Coordination Commission examined preparations for the Rio project and received updates from the organisers and their partners in areas such as Athletes and National Olympic Committees (NOCs) Services, Sport and International Federations Services, Venues and Infrastructure, Accommodation, Media Operations, Spectators, Ticketing, Transport, Test Events, Marketing and the Paralympic Games.

The Commission will return to Rio de Janeiro in September this year.

IOC

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An important Rio 2016 meeting will now take place on Tuesday 01st April 2014 - http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/summer-olympics/2016/1019159-fundamentally-important-rio-2016-progress-meeting-delayed - Source: Inside the Games.

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Rio governor calls in army to take back the favela slums ahead of football tournament

It took just 15 minutes for more than 1,000 military police to occupy one of the most violent shanty towns in Rio de Janeiro, as dawn was breaking on Sunday morning.

Not one shot was fired during the operation to bring peace to the slum as 21 armoured vehicles rolled into the sprawling favela in the north of Rio. They were accompanied by trucks deploying hundreds of police patrols; pickups carrying more officers with weapons held aloft; the mounted regiment and the dog unit.

More than 130,000 people live in the Complexo do Mare, which has for years been ruled by ruthless drug trafficking gangs.

With the World Cup just two months away, the favelas represent the biggest security crisis facing Rio since it launched the police pacification units (UPPs) programme five years ago. The initiative reclaims lawless territory ruled by drug traffickers in the capital’s slums and replaces it with a police presence.

Authorities are hoping to prevent violence in the city’s worst favelas affecting the city during the World Cup, threatening the hundreds of thousands of visitors.

For the past 10 days the slum lords and criminal elements have been under siege as Rio’s governor, Sergio Cabral, finally admitted the city needed help to restore law and order on its streets. He called on Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff to send in the army. Thousands of troops are expected to arrive this week to continue the peace process, and will stay indefinitely.

The decision to take control of Complexo do Mare followed weeks of attacks on officers patrolling the city’s shanty towns, as well as frequent gun battles, random deadly attacks, bus burnings, bombings and barricades set on fire. Seven officers have been killed since the start of the year.

The situation has been exacerbated by high-profile extra-judicial killings of slum dwellers by the police. Twenty-five officers will stand trial this year over the disappearance and murder last July of Amarildo, a labourer from the Rocinha favela; and another three officers were arrested this month after they were caught on camera dragging the body of a dying woman 350 metres along a road from the back of a police van. Witnesses from the Congonha favela where the victim, Claudia da Silva Ferreira, lived allege that officers shot her and tried to cover up the deed.

Mr Cabral said of the attacks on police: “This is a clear attempt [by drug traffickers] to demoralise us, to discredit the pacification process and reclaim the occupied territories that are now held by the police. The [criminals] want us to retreat. But we will push forward and will not be deterred.”

There have been several high-profile arrests since the start of the operation 10 days ago, including Mare’s drug kingpin, Marcelo Santos das Dores. He was caught, following an undercover intelligence operation, living in a £1,000-a-month luxury home.

More than 100 people have been arrested in Mare. Hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, marijuana and pills have been seized, along with ammunition and stolen motorbikes.

Mare is located at a strategic point in the city and will become the 39th district to be pacified by police. It is near to Rio’s international airport and has three main highways running by it.

On Saturday, gangs of youths threw stones at passing cars, stopping and robbing them. As police gave chase, the youths escaped through gaps in the fence into the rabbit-warren lanes of Mare.

Aiming to reassure residents of the favela on Sunday, Mr Cabral issued a televised message. “This is a permanent message of security,” he said. “Police are here to help you and to do their work within the law. The security is here to stay.”

The operation was welcomed by residents, who have long suffered under the grip of drug gangs. Hundreds gathered in the local square to welcome the police. Children were given rides on police horses and locals chatted to officers as they were shown around the armoured vehicles.

Carlos Henrique Silva, 35, who took his two-year-old daughter Kaila to see the police raise their flag as a symbolic gesture, said: “It’s a climate of peace that we have not seen for many years. I have waited for a long time to see this. I guess this is the beginning of a new era. I don’t know what our lives will be 30 years from now, but right now, we’re very happy.”

The Independent

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  • 3 weeks later...

Rio Mayor says no sports 'mausoleum' like Beijing

He mocked China's spending on the Beijing Olympics and the white elephants it left behind, notably the award-winning National Stadium nicknamed the Bird's Nest.

"I'm not going to build an eagle, an eagle's nest," Paes said. "What's that thing called? Fish nest? Fish, eagle? Bird's Nest. We're not going to build a Bird's Nest in Rio de Janeiro. If you go to Beijing today, the Bird's Nest has become a mausoleum to honor wasted public money. We are not going to do this here."

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Rio Mayor says no sports 'mausoleum' like Beijing

He mocked China's spending on the Beijing Olympics and the white elephants it left behind, notably the award-winning National Stadium nicknamed the Bird's Nest.

"I'm not going to build an eagle, an eagle's nest," Paes said. "What's that thing called? Fish nest? Fish, eagle? Bird's Nest. We're not going to build a Bird's Nest in Rio de Janeiro. If you go to Beijing today, the Bird's Nest has become a mausoleum to honor wasted public money. We are not going to do this here."

He's right you know. It was great for a glorious 3 weeks. But now, it's just a dust-gatherer. Not to mention all those ghost cities they have.

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Rio mayor already said too the city will not build a permanent huge rugby stadium and this lead to a lot of complaints from Rugby IF...

Isn't it more that they're only putting in 3000 seats for Rugby, which I think is far too low. Okay, it's not big in Brazil, but I think it'll be a sought after ticket for visitors. And if the seating's temporary anyway...

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Isn't it more that they're only putting in 3000 seats for Rugby, which I think is far too low. Okay, it's not big in Brazil, but I think it'll be a sought after ticket for visitors. And if the seating's temporary anyway...

Especially for its debut. The IOC looks at tickets sold when evaluating sports as well so the rugby board does have a right to be concerned. 3,000 would be the lowest capacity venue I can recall for any recent Olympics. However wasn't rugby supposed to be at the athletics venue?

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