Sport for development & peace

By its very nature sport is about participation, inclusion, citizen- ship; it brings individuals and communities together. Sport provides a forum to learn skills such as discipline, confidence and leadership and it teaches core principles such as tolerance, cooperation and respect and at the same time the value of effort and how to manage victory as well as defeat.

Internationally, the link between sport and development started with the Olympic movement in the early 20th century. However, it was only in the late 1990s that governments, UN agencies and NGOs started to employ sport more systematically in order to achieve social development out comes. The potential of sport as a tool for development and peace has yet to be fully realised, it has remained for years outside the mainstream of thinking and al- though it had been previously acknowledged as a human right, it was often considered a by- product of development, not an engine.

Since the establishment of the United Nations Inter-Agency Taskforce on Sport for Development and Peace, sport has been recognised as viable and practical low-cost and high-impact tool to support the accomplishment of the Millennium Development Goals, highlighting its role mainly in education, health issues and HIV/ AIDS awareness, the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment, but also its contribution to the achievement of all targets.

The involvement in sport for development and peace programmes of national governments, international agencies, NGOs as well as national and international sport federations and local grassroots organisation, is considered of vital importance.

DEFINITION OF SPORT:

In 2003, the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace defined sport as: “all forms of physical activity that contribute to physical fitness, mental well-being and social interaction, such as play, recreation, organized or competitive sport, and indigenous sports and games.”

This is a slightly abbreviated version of the definition given in the European Sports Charter (2001): “Sport means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organized participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming relationships or obtaining results in competitions at all levels.”

CONTRIBUTION OF SPORT TO THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS)

Source: Harnessing The Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Recommendations to Governments, ©Right To Play on behalf of the Sport for Development and Peace Working Group, Toronto: 2008

Sport represents a significant source of potential for enhancing and even accelerating development and peace efforts worldwide, particularly those related to attaining the MDGs. Sport’s attributes make it a valuable component of broader, holistic approaches in reaching the eight MDG benchmarks with targets aimed at:

Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,
Achieving universal primary education,
Promoting gender equality and empowering women,
Reducing child mortality,
Improving maternal health,
Fighting HIV, AIDS, malaria, and other diseases,
Ensuring environmental sustainability,
Developing a global partnership for development.

Sport’s Unique Value as a Tool for Development and Peace

The concept of Sport for Development and Peace is rooted in the recognition that sport possesses unique attributes that enable it to contribute to development and peace processes. These attributes include:

Universal popularity – transcending of national, cultural, socio-economic and political boundaries, when done right, sport is enjoyable for participants and spectators alike and can be invoked in virtually any community in the world.
Capacity as a powerful global communications platform – Because sport events offer the capacity to reach vast numbers of people, they are effective platforms for public education & social mobilization.
Ability to connect – sport is an inherently social process bringing together players, teams, coaches, volunteers & spectators.
Cross-cutting nature – sport can be used to address a broad range of social and economic challenges.
Potential to empower, motivate and inspire – sport has the natural ability to draw on, develop, and showcase individual strengths and capacities.

Development and Peace Benefits Achievable Through Sport

1) Promoting health and preventing disease

Prevents and manages chronic disease
Prevents and manages infectious disease
Enhances mental health
Reduces direct and indirect health care costs

2) Enhancing the inclusion and well-being of person with disabilities

Reduces stigma
Enhances socialization
Enables independence and participation
Contributes to empowerment
Fosters greater inclusion

3) Enhancing social inclusion, preventing conflict, and building peace

Promotes social inclusion
Provides respite in periods of conflict
Builds trust and establishes bridges between groups in conflict
Builds peace in a post-conflict situation
Promotes a culture of peace

4) Strengthening child & youth development and education

Enhances physical health and development
Fosters psychosocial health and development
Builds life skills and positive values
Helps children and youth recover from trauma
Strengthens education

5) Promoting gender equity and empowering girls & women

Enhances girls’ and women’s health and well-being
Fosters self-esteem and empowerment
Facilitates social inclusion and integration
Challenges gender norms
Provides opportunities for leadership and achievement

TABLE 1

Contribution of Sport to the Millennium Development Goals

Source: Harnessing The Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Recommendations to Governments, ©Right To Play on behalf of the Sport for Development and Peace Working Group, Toronto: 2008

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL	CONTRIBUTION OF SPORT
1. ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER	Participants, volunteers and coaches acquire transferable life skills which increase their employability Vulnerable individuals are connected to community services and supports through sport-based outreach programs Sport programs and sport equipment production provide jobs and skills development Sport can help prevent diseases that impede people from working and impose health care costs on individuals and communities Sport can help reduce stigma and increase self-esteem, self confidence and social skills, leading to increased employability
2. ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION	School sport programs motivate children to enroll in and attend school and can help improve academic achievement Sport-based community education programs provide alternative education opportunities for children who cannot attend school Sport can help erode stigma preventing children with disabilities from attending school
3. PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN	Sport helps improve female physical and mental health and offers opportunities for social interaction and friendship Sport participation leads to increased self-esteem, self-confidence, and enhanced sense of control over one’s body Girls and women access leadership opportunities and experience Sport can cause positive shifts in gender norms that afford girls and women greater safety and control over their lives Women and girls with disabilities are empowered by sport-based opportunities to acquire health information, skills, social networks, and leadership experience
4. REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY	Sport can be used to educate and deliver health information to young mothers, resulting in healthier children Increased physical fitness improves children’s resistance to some diseases Sport can help reduce the rate of higher-risk adolescent pregnancies Sport-based vaccination and prevention campaigns help reduce child deaths and disability from measles, malaria and polio Inclusive sport programs help lower the likelihood of infanticide by promoting greater acceptance of children with disabilities
5. IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH	Sport for health programs offer girls and women greater access to reproductive health information and services Increased fitness levels help speed post-natal recovery
6. COMBAT HIV AND AIDS, MALARIA, AND OTHER DISEASES	Sport programs can be used to reduce stigma and increase social and economic integration of people living with HIV and AIDS Sport programs are associated with lower rates of health risk behavior that contributes to HIV infection Programs providing HIV prevention education and empowerment can further reduce HIV infection rates Sport can be used to increase measles, polio and other vaccination rates Involvement of celebrity athletes and use of mass sport events can increase reach and impact of malaria, tuberculosis and other education and prevention campaigns
7. ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY	Sport-based public education campaigns can raise awareness of importance of environmental protection and sustainability Sport-based social mobilization initiatives can enhance participation in community action to improve local environment
8. DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT	Sport for Development and Peace efforts catalyze global partnerships and increase networking among governments, donors, NGOs and sport organizations worldwide