Sport for Development and Peace

FIFA and the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR) jointly staged an event celebrating the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, which has coincided with the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ being played in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The event, held in Sydney/Gadigal, highlighted the challenges facing First Nations and Māori as well as Indigenous people worldwide. First Nations and Māori guests, UN agency representatives and member association representatives joined FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura to listen to experts on how to drive change, and how football can play its part. The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ has been used to convey these messages with “Unite for Indigenous Peoples” one of the seven social causes which are being promoted during the tournament. Read more..

Ambassador H.E. Tetsuya Kimura, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations – VNR Lab 2021. For more information, please click here.

Ms. Heidi Latsky, Artistic and Executive Director of the Heidi Latsky Dance, which disrupts space, dismantles normal, and redefines beauty and virtuosity through innovative performance and discourse. Dedicated to reflecting the true diverse nature of the world we live in, HLD brings rigorous, passionate, and thought-provoking work to broad audiences. Learn more about their “On Display Global 2021”.

Interview with H.E. Mrs. Isabelle Picco, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Monaco to the UN. Her bio is available here.

Interview with Dr. Suki H Hoagland, Lecturer in the Earth Systems Program, Stanford University.

Interview with Yuval Wagner, Founder and President of Access Israel.

Message from Nicole Matuska, GRLS Director at Women Win.

Interview with Annika Bryson Emmert

Melissa Martin

Ms. Melissa Martin, is a Social Affairs Officer in the Division for Inclusive Social Development since 2015. She holds bachelor’s degrees in law and international studies, and a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies. Since she joined the United Nations she has been working on social development issues promoting the rights of indigenous peoples as well as  sport as an enabler of sustainable development and peace, liaising with UN entities on this topic. A former researcher on peace and conflict transformation, forensic psychology and law, she has published several journal articles on post-conflict reintegration and rehabilitation, and police conduct during investigative interviews.

Amine Lamrabat

Mr. Amine Lamrabat, is an Information Officer at the Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) since 2008 and joined the UN in 2004. He holds a Master of Science in Technology from Pace University, New York and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Marketing. Over the past ten years, he has been working on social development issues (ageing, youth, family, indigenous peoples, cooperatives and persons with disabilities), civil society, communication and outreach, as well as innovation and digital technologies. He coordinates the participation of NGOs in many UNDESA’s major events.

Simon Miyingo

Mr. Simon Miyingo is a PMP® certified expert in Information Systems Management. He has over 8 years experience in the private sector where he has managed projects in domains like Software Development, Embedded Systems Design and Artificial Intelligence. He has a Master of Science in Engineering and Management from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications Engineering from Makerere University, Uganda. He also has experience as university lecturer at Makerere University. He is an ardent sports fan who enjoys football, rugby, basketball, tennis, motorsport and cycling.

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, 6 April

To raise awareness of this potential, 6 April was declared as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) by the UN General Assembly in its Resolution (A/RES/67/296). The adoption of this Day signifies the increasing recognition by the UN of the positive influence that sport can have on the advancement of human rights, and social and economic development.

The UN General Assembly also recognizes the role that the International Paralympic Committee plays in showcasing the achievements of athletes with an impairment to a global audience and in acting as a primary vehicle to change societal perceptions of disability sport.

Learn more about the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.

World Basketball Day, 21 December 

Sport, including sport for persons with disabilities, has an important role to play in the promotion of peace and development, respect for human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, in particular basketball, given its universal popularity.

Basketball creates a unique space of cooperation, physical movement and an interdependence that allows participants to see each other as human beings first and foremost. On December 21st, we will celebrate the first-ever World Basketball Day. A new UN Resolution has been proclaimed to establish this Day:
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The Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) at UNDESA is preparing a new Compendium on Sport for Development and Peace to capture the emerging trends and provide timely analysis of policies related to the mandate on Sport for Development and Peace.

This Compendium will highlight the cases shared by Member States and aims to serve as an inspiration to policymakers.

Draft first results of the questionnaire

UN DESA launched an advocacy brief on 15 December 2020, co-led by UN-Women, titled ‘Recovering Better: Sport for Development and Peace Reopening, Recovery and Resilience Post-COVID-19’. The brief was collaboratively drafted by sport focal points in the following entities: World Health Organization, UN Office for Drugs and Crime, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, International Labour Organization, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Children’s Fund, UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, UN Climate Change, UN Environment Programme and the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism.

The brief sets out a vision to support the reopening, recovery, and resilience of sport. The brief first highlights critical intersects between sport, physical activity, SDG achievement, and COVID-19 impact, the consequences of these intersect for our individual and collective wellbeing, and ideas for addressing these consequences. It then presents critical actions or issues to be addressed across four key areas – promoting human rights and combatting discrimination; ensuring equal access to sport and physical activity; safeguarding participants, and ensuring integrity in sport- seeking to imagine the necessary course adjustments for bringing the sporting world safely back into full operation with renewed and refocused vigor.

Download the advocacy brief on ‘Recovering Better: Sport for Development and Peace Reopening, Recovery and Resilience Post-COVID-19’.

• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
• Ensuring that integrity is at the core of sport’s response to the pandemic: Preventing corruption in sport and manipulation of competitions by UNODC
• United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)
• United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)
• COVID-19, Women, Girls and Sport: Build Back Better, Policy Brief by UN Women
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Considerations for sports federations/sports event organizers when planning mass gatherings in the context of COVID-19 by WHO
• An Overview of the Sport-Related Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children by the Centre for Sport and Human Rights
• Ensuring that integrity is at the core of sport’s response to the pandemic: Preventing corruption in sport and manipulation of competitions by UNODC
• The impact of COVID-19 on sport, physical activity and well-being and its effects on social development – UN/DESA Policy Brief #73
• Sport in the time of pandemic: an ibero-american perspective by UNESCO Office Montevideo and Regional Bureau for Science in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Ibero-American Sports Council. English | Español | Portugués

Policy Brief on “Addressing Climate Change Through Sport”, 2 February 2022: Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our times. Sport plays an important role as part of the solution. Sport is a key social platform that can reach and influence millions of peoples worldwide and raise awareness on climate change, promote a culture in favour of climate action, and champion sustainable behaviours.

Policy Brief on “The impact of COVID-19 on sport, physical activity and well-being and its effects on social development”, 14 May 2020: This policy brief highlights the challenges COVID-19 has posed to both the sporting world and to physical activity and well-being, including for marginalized or vulnerable groups. It further provides recommendations for Governments and other stakeholders, as well as for the UN system, to support the safe reopening of sporting events, as well as to support physical activity during the pandemic and beyond.

UN Reports

• 77th session of the General Assembly: “Sport: Catalyst for a Better, Stronger Recovery”, the 2022 Report of the Secretary-General reviews progress over the last two years to apply sport for development and peace. The Report highlights adaptations to deliver sport during the COVID19 pandemic, noting the potential to apply innovations to scale up impact. The Report analyses the potential for sport to play a catalytic role in countries’ efforts to “build back better”, arguing that sport is well suited to help address pandemic-related increases in inequalities, mental health challenges, out-of-school and work youth, social unrest, violence, and physical inactivity.  In the context of broader recovery efforts, the Report outlines how sport can be maximized as a low-cost, high-impact tool to rebuild solidarity within and between countries, deliver concrete benefits to people in the short term, while generating wider societal level change in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.Drafted at the request of the UN General Assembly, the Secretary General Report draws on the contributions of 16 Member States, 7 UN system entities and 81 public and private entities, including community groups, universities, businesses, and sports leagues.  To inform the Report, the UN organized the Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on The Role of Sport in Addressing Inequalities in Times of Crisis and Recovery in April 2022. 125 participants attended from 24 countries, including experts, Member State representatives, and practitioners. Download the Report and learn more about the inputs from Member States, the UN System and Stakeholders.
• 75th session of the General Assembly: The present report, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/24, reviews progress towards implementation of the United Nations Action Plan on Sport for Development and Peace, drawing on input received from Member States, the United Nations system, and other stakeholders. Prepared in the context of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the report highlights the important role of physical activity and sport in mitigating the impact of the pandemic on health and well-being and examines the role of digital technology in helping sport to fulfill that role. It further examines means of building global resilience to counter future shocks through investment and innovation in sport and sport-related policies. Download the Report and learn more about the inputs from Member States, the UN System and Stakeholders.
• 73rd session of the General Assembly: The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), through its Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD), led the preparation of the report of the Secretary-General on sport for development and peace to the 73rd session of the GA, as requested by General Assembly Resolution 71/60 on “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace “. Download the Report and learn more about the inputs from Member States and UN System.

• UN Action Plan on SDP
• The Kazan Action Plan
• The Global Action Plan on Physical Activity
• WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behavior
• Children’s Rights in Sport Principles (UNICEF + Japan Committee for UNICEF)
• Sport for Generation Equality Principles (UN Women)
• Points of Consensus, adopted by the ILO’s tripartite constituents at the Global Dialogue Forum on Decent Work in the World of Sport 2020
• UNCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework
• Sports organisations commit to safeguarding nature under new framework by UNEP
• Sports for Nature: Setting a Baseline – Handbook by UNEP

Inclusive sustainable development: youth, sport and the 2030 Agenda, 7 July, 1-2:30 pm (EDT)

UN DESA’s Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD), which houses the substantive mandate on sport for development and peace at the United Nations, is organizing a Voluntary National Review (VNR) Lab at the 2021 HLPF entitled “Inclusive Social Development: Youth, Sports and the 2030 Agenda”. The lab will examine progress on how youth involvement in sport can contribute to promoting inclusive sustainable development and peace and provide a platform for Members States, youth, and other national and regional stakeholders, to share their experiences – both successes and challenges – about supporting youth empowerment through sport programmes.

Reimagining cooperation on sport for persons with disabilities, leaving no one behind, 10 November 2020
The webinar organized by UNDESA’s Division for Inclusive Social Development, aimed at raising awareness and identifying collaborative innovative solutions and responses to recovering better from the pandemic with a focus on building more equal, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economies and societies by engaging persons with disabilities and other stakeholders through sport. Watch video of the event 

Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on the role of technology in advancing sport for development and peace, 15 December 2020
UN DESA/DISD organized the present multi-stakeholder dialogue as part of these efforts and in the context of the United Nations Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. The dialogue brought together stakeholders from different sectors with diverse backgrounds and experiences to share new research and good practices and to identify challenges, opportunities and policy recommendations on a key issue: the critical role that technology can play in advancing sport as an enabler of development and peace. Watch video of the event | Summary of the event

Expert group meeting and interagency dialogue on “Strengthening the Global Framework for Leveraging Sport for Development and Peace”: The meeting was held in New York from 13 – 14 June 2018, as part of the preparations for the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

• Sport and the 2030 Agenda
• Megumi Aoyama UNHCR Sport Coordination
• Message from Ms. Daniela Bas for the 2019 Conference on “Safeguarding Sport from Corruption: Towards effective implementation of resolution 7/8 on corruption in sport”
• Message from Ms. Daniela Bas for the CIGEPS Africa regional meeting 2019
• Commemoration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace 2019
• Message from Amina J. Mohammed (Deputy Secretary-General) on International Day of Sport for Development and Peace 2019
• Sports and development Conversation with H.E. Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa
• Video Message of the Permanent Mission of Monaco to the UN for the 2018 IDSDP

• Quality Physical Education publications by UNESCO
• Inclusion of persons with disabilities in society through participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sports
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• The Clearinghouse for Sport (Clearinghouse) is the information and knowledge-sharing platform for Australian sport
• The Commonwealth – SDP Publications and Resources
• Report of the Secretariat on integrating sports into youth crime prevention and criminal justice strategies
• Draft report on “Comprehensive strategies for crime prevention towards social and economic development”
• Report of Committee I – Workshop b: “Education and youth engagement as key to making societies resilient to crime”