UN Group Meets to Promote Sports for Peace and Development
New York, May 24 2005 12:00PM
Seeking to reap the benefits of sports for peacebuilding, socio-economic development and health, a consortium of
athletes, United Nations officials, government leaders and sports federations is meeting today at UN Headquarters in New
York to adopt a policy declaration aimed at national governments around the world.
The International Working Group on Sport for Development and Peace was established during the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens in an effort to combine sport and play programmes worldwide with development policy. 2005 was proclaimed the Year
of Sport and Physical Education by the UN General Assembly.
At today’s meeting, the Group will identify existing programmes that successfully utilize sports for peace and
development goals, such as initiatives that bring together Israeli and Palestinian children through football, help
former child combatants overcome trauma through play, and educate youth on the risks of HIV/AIDS through games.
The Group will also make specific recommendations on how governments can incorporate Sport for Development initiatives
into their policies and development assistant programmes, adopting a declaration of commitment to ensure that Sport for
Development recommendations are reflected in national policies and receive government funding.
Participants in the day-long meeting will include Louise Fréchette, UN Deputy-Secretary-General; Adolf Ogi, Special
Adviser to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sport for Development and Peace; Stephen Owen, Canadian Minister of State for
Sport and Dr. Dennis Bright, Minister of Youth and Sport of Sierra Leone.
The International Working Group is supported by the Governments of Switzerland, Canada and Norway, along with the UN
Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) and the UN New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace. The UN
Development Programme (UNDP) chairs the initiative.
ENDS