Achieving more together with Sport for Development

Context

Sport bridges social divides, brings people together and makes societies more stable. The United Nations (UN) has also recognised ‘sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace’ and included it in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this way, sport plays a key role in development cooperation.

As children and young people, especially girls and young women, are particularly affected by global challenges, they are the main focus of programme activities. Through the programme, sport strengthens gender equality, reinforces social cohesion, and promotes employment for young people.

Objective

Sport in development cooperation enhances the lives of disadvantaged children and young people around the world.

Approach

The programme collaborates with international and local organisations. Drawing on a fund, it works with its partners to support innovative projects that boost young people’s employability, advance gender equality, and strengthen social cohesion.

Another objective is establishing a long-term, interactive and global network that practitioners and experts can use to develop their skills and share knowledge. Youth ambassadors are a key element in this. They implement projects, act as role models, and use the network to engage in dialogue with one another.

The projects are being carried out in the countries involved in the global programme, with priority areas varying from country to country:

• Colombia: peace and the prevention of violence; displacement and migration; health
• Pakistan: feminist development cooperation; displacement and migration
• Tunisia: employment promotion; feminist development cooperation
• Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia): social cohesion; employment promotion; feminist development cooperation

Last update: August 2024