Badminton champion UN envoy

Badminton champion UN envoy

JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
has named former world badminton champion Rudy Hartono as its
first goodwill ambassador in Indonesia.

Hartono, 48, is also eight-time All England badminton champion
and coached Indonesia's team that won a gold medal at the 1992
Olympic Games in Barcelona.

UNDP resident representative Ravi Rajan said last Thursday
that Rudy Hartono would help the agency fight poverty in the
world's fourth most populous nation.

Rajan said about 11 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people
were classified as poor nowadays compared to more than 60 percent
in the 1970s when Hartono was at the peak of his playing career.

Hartono said he would try to help young Indonesians overcome
poverty through badminton and other sports.

His appointment is for one year. (aan)