The 78-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has spent the day touring the Olympic Park in East London, where he met with children from schools in the five Host Boroughs, Olympic Park workers and members of the local community, including the Young Mayor of Newham and two young people from Walthamstow who have helped transform their local area through the London 2012 Changing Places programme.
 
The Archbishop, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign to end apartheid in South Africa , was in London to take part in the inaugural London 2012 Diversity and Inclusion speaker series.
 
As part of his visit to London , the Archbishop was present when Sebastian Coe and Paul Deighton, the chairman and chief executive of London 2012, as well as heads of departments, signed the London 2012 Diversity and Inclusion pledge.
 
This pledge demonstrates London 2012's commitment to creating the most diverse and inclusive Games ever.
 
He then delivered a speech on the importance of inclusion to the London 2012 legacy at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

Tutu said: "I spent part of my time first as a student at King’s College here in London and later at the World Council of Churches and it is very exciting today to see how the Games are a catalyst for change in this part of London and how they will deliver a lasting social, economic and sporting legacy.
 
“As a South African, I know how much sport can help bring different people and nations together. I feel strongly that the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will be a fantastic celebration of the many different communities and cultures which exist in London and the rest of the UK and will bring everyone together.

"These Games are going to be known for the fact they underscore our core diversity.

"The variety, the diversity [in London] is staggering.



"London is an extraordinary city that, in many ways, is still the hub of the universe.

"Everybody really wants to come to London.

"You are going to leave the world a fantastic legacy.

"You are going to remind the world that, hey, God created a a staggering diversity of peoples."
 
Coe said: “Such is the diversity of London , that this city is probably one of the only few in the world where every competing nation in 2012 will feel that they have a home crowd.
 
“Sport has a real role to play in healing and bringing a nation together. We are thrilled that Archbishop Desmond Tutu could come and see the progress London 2012 is making, not only on the Olympic Park, but also in terms of our diversity and inclusion work.

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