Feature

Sport and Development

By Amir A. Dossal

 

Sport offers endless opportunities for innovative partnerships, working together for a better world.

It has become increasingly clear that we need to find creative solutions for dealing with the challenges of poverty and peaceful coexistence. Sport is an international language. Its ability to cross cultures enables sport-related programs to bridge social and ethnic divides. As a result, sport can be a powerful tool to promote peace, both symbolically on the global level and very practically within communities.

The power of sport can be used as both a tool for preventing conflict as well as an element for building sustainable peace. When applied effectively, sport programs promote social integration and foster tolerance. In post-conflict environments in particular, sports activities can help reduce tensions and generate dialogue. Sport is often denied in times of instability, and yet it offers a sense of normality, especially for young people. Sport programs provide structure in an unstructured and destabilizing environment and serve as a means to channel energies away from aggression or self-destruction.

Boys playing football on an airstrip in South Darfur, Sudan  [UNICEF/HQ05-2091/GEORGINA CRASTON]

Entities like UNICEF and UNHCR are mainstreaming sports, recreation and play activities into country programs, recognizing that sports and play are vital components of a child's healthy and holistic development. The following are a few examples of successful UN partnerships.

One is the Football for Peace project in Colombia, a partnership between UNHCR, civil society, government and the private sector. Public spaces are being rehabilitated and turned into football fields to promote tolerance and conflict resolution. To promote gender equity, girls and boys play on the same team. Goals are not counted unless a girl has touched the ball. Over 20,000 children and adolescents and 5,000 coaches in 50 municipalities are participating in the project.

In Rwanda, peace education and HIV/AIDS prevention are taught through sport and physical education in primary schools. Teachers use a comprehensive guide that demonstrates how to include peace education in physical education sessions, how to address violence and conflict in sports and develop students' life skills. Over 500 teachers have been trained using the guide, and there are plans to expand its usage.

Sport programs can also serve as a positive and productive activity for refugees and internally displaced persons, easing problems they face, such as violence, limited access to education and broken family structures. Sport is used as a bridge between refugee and host communities.

A recreational program for children at risk in Brazil  [UNICEF/HQ00-0369/Alejandro Balaquer]

Child soldiers are uprooted from their communities and social structures and experience extreme brutality. The process of their demobilization and rehabilitation is difficult and highly sensitive, requiring physical, psychological and psychosocial care, as well as opportunities to develop the skills necessary for adult life. Sport programs can offer a space to play, giving children back their childhood, while providing an outlet for channeling anger and controlling aggression. Sports teams also create a sense of belonging that is essential for their effective demobilization. In Sierra Leone, UNICEF partners with the NGO Right To Play to incorporate sport and play into its Community-Based Reintegration program.
 
A sporting event will never end war or bring peace by itself. But it is a method for taking us on the first step along that path.


 

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