Compendium on Sport for Development and Peace

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the “growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect, and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities, as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives” (2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development A/RES/70/1, paragraph 37). The General Assembly has emphasized the contributions of sport to development and peace in a series of resolutions on sport as an enabler of sustainable development, and through an expanding network of actors and stakeholders supporting the theme.

Given the ever-growing awareness of the important role of sport as a tool for social development and peace, this Compendium, prepared by the Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), aims to capture emerging trends on sport for development and peace and to provide a preliminary analysis of their main features. The objective is to support Member States interested in networking with other governments and learning about experiences in the practice of sport for development.

The Compendium lists 44 selected initiatives from 16 countries, divided according to major categories of action areas, as follows:
1. Sport for all: legal, financial, and infrastructure initiatives;
2. Enhancing decent work;
3. Strengthening child and youth development and education;
4. Enhancing social inclusion, conflict prevention and peace building;
5. Promoting ethics and peace within sport;
6. Building partnerships to promote sport for development and peace.

The inclusion of any initiative in this publication does not represent an endorsement by the United Nations. These cases are shared for exchange of information so that Member States can learn from each other and create new partnerships to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. The initiatives listed in this Compendium were submitted by Member States in response to a call for inputs launched by UN DESA/DISD in October 2021.

Member States are invited to contribute comments and additional feedback to this Compendium by emailing: desa-sport@un.org. Stakeholders are likewise welcome to share their observations.

Key Messages

Sport and physical activity can play a crucial role in societies by promoting people’s health and well-being, by strengthening social ties and by fostering sustainable development and peace as well as solidarity and respect.

Governments are increasingly recognizing and leveraging the power of sport as a tool for sustainable development and peace.

To promote sport as a tool for sustainable development and peace, governments have engaged in six types of policies and initiatives:

• Legal, financial and infrastructure;
• Enhancing decent work;
• Strengthening child and youth development and education;
• Enhancing social inclusion, conflict prevention and peace building;
• Promoting ethics and peace within sport;
• Building partnerships to promote sport for development and peace.

The Compendium on Sport for Development and Peace captures emerging trends in this area and provides a preliminary analysis of their main features.

The Compendium aims at supporting Member States interested in networking with other governments and learning about experiences in the practice of sport for development and peace.