UNITED NATIONS LOOKS TO SPORTS WORLD TO ADVANCE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

UNITED NATIONS LOOKS TO SPORTS WORLD TO ADVANCE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

NEW YORK, 17 September -- The world could be a healthier and less dangerous place if nations invested more seriously in their citizens’ right to participate in sports.  This is among the main findings of a report published by 10 United Nations agencies at the request of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. 

The report, entitled Sport as a Tool for Development and Peace:  Towards Achieving the Millennium Development Goals, will be launched today at the United Nations.  The report was written by a United Nations Task Force co-chaired by Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)and Adolf Ogi, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace.

The Task Force members analyzed the recent history of:

-- the creative use of sport to achieve United Nations objectives; and

-- its partnerships with prominent athletes, sports federations, sporting goods manufacturers, non-governmental organizations and government ministries.

The report concludes that the United Nations has only scratched the surface of possibilities for integrating physical activity, recreation and sports activities into development programming aimed at:

-- improving public health;

-- boosting education performance;

-- redressing discrimination against girls, the disabled and the elderly;

-- encouraging tolerance and respect for others;

-- bridging social, cultural and ethnic divisions;

-- supporting local economic development and job creation;

-- healing deep psychosocial wounds among victims of war and other abuse;

-- more effective communication of the broad United Nations social agenda.

The report presents an inventory of United Nations programmes that have successfully used sporting activities as an entry point to community involvement in positive social behaviour.  Examples range from physical education for Afghan refugees to aerobic programmes that incorporate HIV/AIDS education and counselling for women in Zimbabwe.  Other examples include:

-- In Albania, youth recreation centres provide counselling and assistance to job seekers;

-- In Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda, thousands of street children and orphans learn life skills while sharing in basketball, dance and other activities;

-- In Brazil, young people in detention centres learn to channel their frustrations through judo and gymnastics;

-- In Sierra Leone, sports offer an avenue for child soldiers to control aggression and build positive relationships with adults and peers.

Other initiatives with local and international sporting institutions in rich and poor countries help to promote drug-free lifestyles, create empathy for refugees and minorities, protect the environment or build volunteer support for multiple causes.

While each of the United Nations organizations involved in the current report have partnered successfully with prominent athletes and with sports federations who have acted as ambassadors for global issues, or shared events and promotional space for public awareness, the report stresses the need to step beyond celebrity and elite sports in ways that convert spectators into participants:  “The aim of United Nations activities involving sport is not the creation of new sporting champions and the development of sport but rather the use of sport in broader development and peace-building activities”, it states.  “While in some instances such activities may lead to the development of sport, the primary desired outcome is to contribute to overall development via sport-related projects.”

The agencies agree that much more should be done to build on the interest already shown by the “world of sports” in United Nations issues:  “Sport is yet to be mainstreamed into the development agenda or the United Nations system.  In general, sports initiatives to date have been ad hoc, informal, and isolated.  The time is ripe to develop a coherent and systematic strategy for increasing the use of sport within the United Nations.  A common framework needs to be established that draws together sport-related initiatives and actors across the different sectors.”

The report notes that inactivity is a significant cause of ill health and lost productivity.  It also notes that play, recreation and team sports embrace core values such as cooperation, social interaction, fair play, sharing and respect, and that participation in sports and other physical activity is recognized as a human right in numerous international conventions.

United Nations agencies’ preferred model for complementary ventures is the promotion of “sport for all”, integrating play, recreation and sports activities into their development programmes, in ways that emphasize participation and the inclusion of all groups in society, regardless of gender, age, ability or race.

The report notes that physical activity is a cost-effective way of preventing diseases, improving education performance, and defusing social conflict.

Among its recommendations are that:

-- Sport and physical activity be incorporated in the development policies of countries, as well as in the country programmes of national and international development agencies, with particular emphasis on the Millennium Development Goals and the needs of young people.

-- Governments strengthen sport and physical activity in policy development and provide resources for sport initiatives that maximise participation and access to “sport for all”, within their own countries.

-- The United Nations system take the initiative to explore the creation of a “global network on sport for development” with the private sector, non-governmental organizations, volunteer organizations and leaders in the world of sport.

-- The United Nations system, private sector partners, sports organizations and civil society should generate in-kind and financial support for “sport for development and peace” initiatives. 

-- The United Nations should explore new ways to use sport for communication and social mobilization around its Millennium Development Goals.

-- The full text of the report is available in PDF format on the Web at http://www.un.org/themes/sport/

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