Pledge to make a difference, together.
Venuste Niyongabo is the first and only Olympic Champion in the history of Burundi, winning a gold medal in the 5000m at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. He is a role model and source of inspiration, and is committed to dedicate his time and athletic experience to help bring communities together across all ethnic, religious, and social divides in his country, Burundi, and in the African Great Lakes region. As an Olympian, Venuste personifies the values of excellence, teamwork, and discipline and is determined to show that sport goes beyond sporting performances and plays a genuine role for serving society. Since 2009, Venuste has been strongly involved in the peace through sport movement, by collaborating with Peace and Sport and being an active member of the Champions for Peace club.
The Foundation was Founded in 2022, the Fondation Venuste Niyongabo (FVN) is a non-governmental organization under Burundian law. Drawing its roots from an international context and working in cooperation with international organizations such as Peace and Sport, the FVN carries out its interventions in a local context, in line with the vision of the Burundian Government, the National Development Plan (PND), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The mission of the FVN , Contribute to a sustainable socio-economic development in Burundi, through the improvement of services, infrastructures and means in the education, health, rural development, and employability sectors, and relying on the values and universality of sport to inspire social interaction and sharing. Areas of intervention : Based on the acknowledgement that the return on investment of sport in terms of health savings and educational outcomes is generally recognized as positive, the FVN relies on sport and its capacity to facilitate education and life skills acquisition to intervene around four main areas: - Education - Health - Sustainability and protection of the environment - Rural development