International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

The Multi-stakeholder Dialogue contributed to the 2021 session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD59) , with its focus on Socially just transition towards sustainable development: the role of digital technologies on social development and well-being of all. The event took place on 15 December 2020, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. EST. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs , through its Division for Inclusive Social Development (DESA/DISD) has, since 2017, housed the substantive portfolio on sport for development and peace in the UN system. Guided by the UN Action Plan on Sport, UN DESA has been working to maximize the positive contributions of sport through its support for inter-governmental processes, research and thought leadership, capacity development work and partnerships. UN DESA/DISD organized the present multi-stakeholder dialogue as part of these efforts and in the context of the United Nations Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goa...

The virtually held event under the theme ‘Building Resilience in an Ever-Changing World’ saw leaders from international organisations, government, international and continental sport bodies, academia, and business come together to analyse both the current and future challenges facing the world of sport while addressing international approaches and ways to further strengthen multisectoral cooperation to enhance the safeguard of sport. Among the main topics discussed during ‘Securing Sport ’, were the future of sport in the context of COVID-19, the security legacy of major sporting events, the plague of corruption, the use of big data to counter the infiltration of organized crime into sports, the rise of eSports and technology , child protection, the issue of racism, the role of sport in regions in turmoil and the need to develop an international framework to regulate the use of private security in the context of major sporting events. The event kicked off by Master of Ceremonies, -...

 Reopening, Recovery and Resilience Post-COVID-19. Adjusting Course and Accelerating Action  Through Sport The intersects of sport, the SDGs and COVID-19 point to four key focus areas for the sporting world in shaping COVID-19 response and recovery: promoting human rights and combatting discrimination; ensuring equal access to sport and physical activity; safeguarding participants; and ensuring integrity in sport.  Promoting Human Rights and Combatting Discrimination  Due to its influence on culture and society, sport can be instrumental in promoting human rights norms and countering discrimination, consistent with the UN Charter’s reaffirmation of faith in fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women. The strength of sport as a platform to inspire has been demonstrated in recent highly publicized athlete-led actions to combat racism. The promotion of human rights by the competitive and commercia...

Sport as a universal language can be a powerful tool to promote peace, tolerance and understanding by bringing people together across boundaries, cultures and religions. Its intrinsic values such as teamwork, fairness, discipline, respect for the opponent and the rules of the game are understood all over the world and can be harnessed in the advancement of solidarity, social cohesion and peaceful coexistence. Sport programmes permit encounters on neutral territory and in an environment where aggression can be controlled, regulated and transformed and hence facilitates rapprochement and reconciliation between opposing parties. Although sport alone cannot stop or solve an acute conflict, it represents a flexible and cost-effective medium for post-conflict relief work and peace building as well as conflict prevention. Sport and Sustainable Development Sport has proven to be a cost-effective and flexible tool in promoting peace and development objectives. Since the inception of the MDGs...

UNESCO is the United Nations’ lead agency for Physical Education and Sport (PES). Statement by UNESCO Director-General on International Day of Sport for Development and Peace 2018 Sport is about both self-effort and collective effort, individual activity and social practice; it relies upon the concepts of respect, understanding, integration and dialogue, and it contributes to the development and fulfilment of individuals regardless of age, gender, origins, beliefs and opinions. That is why sport is a unique forum for action and reflection to transform our societies. UNESCO plays a leading role in achieving this ambition: for example, the Kazan Action Plan , adopted in the Russian Federation last year by the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS) , promotes greater international cooperation in terms of sport policies, and should provide a direct link between sport policies and the Sustainable Development Goa...

  Objective (s) a. Identify cross-cutting issues and/or standards in the field of sport for development and peace. xix.  b. Ensure effective attention to the contribution of sport and sport-based initiatives in the followup and review of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Action Area (s)  i. Strengthen national statistical capacity and monitoring systems to ensure access to sport-related data which are of high quality, accessible, timely, reliable and disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migration status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts, including through the establishment of indicator protocols.

  Objective (s) a. Promote innovative funding mechanisms and multi-stakeholder arrangements at all levels xiii. i. Encourage multi-stakeholder programme development and implementation at all levels xiv. Action Area (s) ii. Identify a forum for systematic exchange of information on good practices in sport for development and peace across the research , programming and policy fields. iii. Strengthen partnerships , at the policy level, across the intergovernmental and non-governmental development sector, sport federations and other civil society stakeholders i. Encourage multi-stakeholder programme development and implementation at all levels