UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Promoting and protecting the rights of children working

and/or living on the street

Using sports to combat challenges

Presentation by Poul Hansen

Head of Office
 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

The UNOSDP

• Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the

Secretary-General of the United Nations on Sport for
Development and Peace
• Core Functions:
• Advocate
• Facilitator
• Representative

• UNOSDP as the gateway to the UN system regarding sport

• Host of the Secretariat of the Sport for Development and

Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG)

• UNOSDP does not fund or implement programmes directly

 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Working with Governments

Co-hosting of events (policy dialogue, IYSPE 2005 etc.)

• General Assembly support (resolutions on SDP)
• International Working Group on Sport for Development and Peace
• Thematic issues: Sport and - Child and Youth Development, Health,
Gender, Persons with Disabilities, Peace
 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Working with Partners

• UN system

• Sports Federations and sports family

• Civil society, NGOs, academia, corporate

 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Why Sport for Development and Peace?

• Sport has a unique power to attract, mobilize and inspire. By

its very nature, sport is about participation.

• Sport is a powerful tool to strengthen social ties and

networks, and to promote ideals of peace, fraternity,
solidarity, non-violence, tolerance and justice.

• Sport is a global phenomenon, has strong convening power

and wide-spread popularity, especially among youth. It
provides a fun learning environment for participants.

• Sport is a cost-efficient and multi-versatile tool.

• Inherent values and benefits of sport: teamwork,

communication, leadership, fair-play, respect (for the rules
and the other), good health, resilience, discipline, etc.

• Development through Sport vs Development of Sport 5

 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Sport can be used to mobilize and educate individuals and

communities (e.g. Project AIR using yoga in Rwanda).
 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Sport can be used to educate about and promote gender

equality, teach individuals, and integrate marginalized groups.
 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Sport and Human Rights

UNESCO, International Charter of Physical Education and Sport 1978, Art. 1

• Every human being has a fundamental right of access to physical education and
sport;

• Everyone must have full opportunities, in accordance with his national tradition
of sport for practicing physical education and sport;

• Special opportunities must be made available for young people, including

children of pre-school age, for the aged and for the disabled to develop their
personalities to the full through physical education and sport.

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 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Sport and street children

• Programme in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and London, UK.

• Use of martial arts for to prevent the involvement of children and
adolescents in crime and drug related.
• Fight for Peace uses a well developed metholody to make intervention with
martial arts.
• http://www.fightforpeace.net/

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 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Sport and street children

• Programme in Addis Abebe in Ethiopia o reintegrate street children into

their families and public school.
• Elements of sport pedagogy are used to foster the personal development of
the children. Simultaneously, the families of the children receive assistance,
in order to lay the foundation for a successful reintegration.
• important components of the program include personal body hygiene,
health care, and the treatment of illnesses. The children receive two meals
a day on the grounds of Sport
• http://www.sportthebridge.ch/

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 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Sport and street children

• Programme in four cities in South Africa for children in residential care,

some of which are street children, som seperated from families.
• Aim: To develop a holistic and sustainable sport for development
programme for both girls and boys
• Engages girls and boys in developmental football league programmes, life-
skills through sport programmes and youth leadership programmes on a
weekly basis.
• http://www.edufootball.org/home/

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 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE

Sport and street children

Main advantages of using sport

• Sport connects with children.

• Sport can teach life skills
• Sport motivates
• Sport can be used as an educational tool for a variety of issues
• Sport developes healthy living
• Sport can, if used correctly, break down barriers and hostilities
• Sport is gender neutral
• Sport has role models and developes role models
• Sport develops confidence and respect
• Sport makes children feel safer.

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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE