International Day of Sport for Development and Peace celebrations
April 14th, 2015Last week we celebrated the second UN designated International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) with a series of events on Tuesday 7 April at the Commonwealth Secretariat headquarters in London. Here is a brief wrap up of the day.
#CWSDP live chat
We kicked off the day with a Twitter conversation about ‘the role of sport in developing A Young Commonwealth’. Students and practitioners were invited to engage with experts in Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) on youth issues in education, peace, health and economic development through sport. We engaged young people from each Commonwealth region and five different organisations, with some great conversation on the day.
@karineteow @ComSecYouth an example is @PeresCenter using sport to bring together 2 countries with ongoing conflict #CWSDP
— Assmaah Helal (@assmaah) April 7, 2015
Launch of the Sport for Development and Peace Youth Advocacy Toolkit
The launch of the Sport for Development and Peace Youth Advocacy Toolkit was a highlight of the day’s events. The SDP Youth Advocacy Toolkit is a resource created by the Commonwealth Youth Sport for Development and Peace working group (CYSDP) to advance youth development through sport across the Commonwealth.
The Toolkit assists young peoples’ ability to create awareness or influence decision-making processes as advocates of SDP. The CYSDP Chair, Clare Barrell, formally presented the Toolkit to Katherine Ellis, Director of the Commonwealth Secretariat Youth Division.
Expert roundtable discussions at Marlborough House, London
We invited experts in the SDP field to attend a roundtable discussion about sport’s contribution to the post-2015 development agenda. Government, private and third sector organisations, convened at Marlborough House to discuss how sport can be used as a tool to deliver the new set of Sustainable Development Goals which will shape global development for the next generation.
This discussion was part of an ongoing series of talks the Commonwealth will host with various experts in the SDP sector to develop guidance for guidance and other stakeholders on sport and the post-2015 development agenda.
Panel discussion: the role of sport in developing ‘A Young Commonwealth’
The final event of the day was a panel event discussing ‘the role of sport in the development of A Young Commonwealth’. The distinguished panel was chaired by the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Director of Youth, Katherine Ellis and included Tom Burstow (UNICEF UK), Guin Batten (Olympic medallist and Youth Sport Trust) and Devika Malik (Indian para-athlete and CYSDP).
Devika opened proceedings with a ‘Bright Ideas’ talk in which she spoke about her experiences in using sport as a tool to better her life and overcome challenges she faced. She also highlighted inspirational stories from the Wheeling Happiness Foundation, the organisation she co-founded, speaking about other young people involved in sport and the impact it has had on their lives and their communities.
The audience engaged with the panel and discussed issues ranging from UNICEF’s partnership with the Commonwealth Games Federation through to the importance of sport as a tool to motivate young people and how best to tailor sports to be inclusive to all young people.
Here in the Commonwealth Youth Programme we’re interested to know how you celebrated International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, and your thoughts on how sport can be used as a tool for development in the Commonwealth.
