The mission of this intergovernmental policy initiative is to encourage and promote sport as an agent for change through integration in the development strategies of national governments.
There are five major thematic working groups within the International Working Group (IWG) of the Sport for Development and Peace initiative. Here’s my take on these five groups:
1. Sport and Child & Youth Development
My favorite focus of this group is the ability of sport to enhance transferable skills and strength through education. Sport has a unique ability to teach through action. One particular quote sticks out in my mind when considering how powerful it is to include sport in youth development and education:
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin
2. Sports and Gender
Women in many cultures around the world lack the opportunities and respect that their counterparts receive. Through sports, communities can foster leadership qualities and self-confidence in women to overcome these unfair imbalances. For example, here is a conversation I had with Diana Lwanaga, a 22 year old woman in Kampala, UG who recently took up the sport of lacrosse that Fields of Growth Intl. introduced to the area in 2009.
When asked how lacrosse was going lately, she responded, “Its not easy to keep up ‘cus when I look around me I have no support, like a fellow girl whom I would call a teammate. Or someone to lean on if it gets hard.”
I followed up by helping her to realize how lacrosse has impacted her life so that she did not lose motivation by the temporary hardship of teammates quitting or giving up. How has it impacted your life?
“Well, [it has] taught me to be a good leader, being a captain, and how to make decisions.”
Anything else? “Lax has helped me get friends, many friends I didn’t know about, and given me high hopes for my future, but they are just inside me ‘cus they are like dream that I want to come true. Hopefully I’ll catch up with it one day.”
3. Sport and Peace
This is often a controversial subject in the area of social development through sport, as many critiques of the tactic fear the competitiveness and rivalry that sports may bring to an area. Through sports, however, communities can unite and find peace through teamwork and leadership.
Take the example of South Africa in 1990 following President Nelson Mandela’s release from jail and the post-apartheid era. During this time, the country was divided between blacks and whites, with extreme hatred and violence plaguing the country from both sides. After attending a Springboks practice (the national rugby team which is mostly white), Nelson Mandela noticed the black South Africans were cheering mostly for England because, in their minds, the Springboks represent prejudice to them. Mandela decided to take action, and reverse this perception in their minds. The World Rugby Championships were quickly approaching in 1995, and were set to be held in South Africa. Throughout the team’s training and interaction with local fans both black and white, the nation gradually united in support of their country’s team.
Nelson Mandela applauds Francois Peinaar for leading South Africa to the 1995 Rugby World Championships, and united a previously racially divided country in the process. (Source: http://static.stuff.co.nz/1264707750/973/3273973.jpg)
4. Sports and Persons with Disabilities
Although this is a thematic group within Sport for Development and Peace initiative, it has not yet been activated. The power of this group is untapped. To get people who are not disabled to work with disabled persons through sport can disintegrate the boundaries between the two and empower both the non-disabled person and the disabled person. In working with each other, both parties develop an understanding of the other, which posits the building blocks for both to understand others in their communities and handle adversity with an open mind.
5. Sport and Health (this group has also not been activated)
Health is a loose term here. Health can pertain to physical health of society, eradicating disease and promoting exercise and healthy lifestyles. This is especially pertinent to countries like the United States where obesity is rising every year. In many other countries, sport can decrease the spread of infectious disease through raising awareness and strengthening the physical health of the society, making them less vulnerable to the disease and more likely to stave off an infection.
Health can also pertain to the health of an economy, a government, a community, or a country. To run a healthy country, corruption (i.e. cheating, deception, smuggling, illegal transactions, etc) needs to be replaced with a well-run coalition of fair level-headed leaders. Through sport, leaders of this type can be developed by learning the transactional skills of confidence, fair-play, hard work, and dedication. The team is only as strong as it’s weakest player. Sports can instill in leaders the qualities needed to effectively lead a country, and cultivate a healthy community, healthy economy, and a healthy government.
Finally, health can pertain to the mental health of the constituents of a community. As defined by the UN, “Mental health is defined by the WHO as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to her or his community.” Mental disorders downgrade the standard of living in a country, and plague the community with increased economic and social costs including: lack of motivation, isolation, increased mortality, genocide, and many more.
Why does it matter…
The potential of the UN’s Sport for Development and Peace to improve communities around the world through integration of these five themes into policy recommendation, and more importantly policy changes, is overwhelmingly insurmountable. However, the lack of activation of the final two groups, the lack of coordination in the policy recommendation, and the lack of effective planning is sure to hamper the success. The importance of these five elements should not be overlooked. Although sport is not the sole solution to many of the worlds’ challenges, it’s a viable one to promote change and action.
What’s holding the UN back?
Stay tuned for more posts about the UN’s policy objective and my personal suggestions on how to focus these for maximum effectiveness.
SPORT FOR CHANGE 
