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SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE THE UN SYSTEM IN ACTION

Below is a chronology of the key milestones in the history of the Sport for Development and Peace movement, seen from a UN perspective.

1922   International Labour Organisation (ILO) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) establish institutional cooperation, later reinforced through a series of partnerships between the IOC and UN system partners
1993 October UNGA resolution 48/11 adopted, “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal,” reviving the ancient Greek tradition of Olympic Truce. Similar resolutions have been adopted since then every two years prior to each Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
1994   International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal
2000 September UN Millennium Declaration adopted: Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established
2001 February 1st Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, Mr. Adolf Ogi, is appointed
  November UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace is established
2002 February UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan attends XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, USA
2003 February 1st International Conference on Sport and Development (Magglingen, Switzerland)
  November Publication of landmark report of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace, “Sport for Development and Peace: Towards Achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” and presented at the 1st ‘Next Step’ Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands
    1st UNGA Resolution “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace” is adopted (58/5), proclaiming 2005 as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE)
2004 August Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG) is established
  October UNGA resolution 59/10 is adopted, “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace”
2005  

International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE 2005), with 125 UN Member States involved, 20 international and over 18 regional conferences organized (including the 2nd ‘Next Step’ Conference in Livingstone, Zambia), connecting the role of sport with the issues of development, health, culture, environment, peace, gender and education
  September UNGA resolution 60/1 is adopted, “World Summit Outcome”
  October UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport is adopted
  November UNGA resolution 60/9 is adopted, “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace”
  December European Parliament Resolution on “Development and Sport” is adopted, acknowledging sport’s positive contribution to social inclusion and cohesion, intercultural dialogue, environmental understanding and the reintegration of children in post-conflict situations
    2nd International Conference on Sport and Development in Magglingen, Switzerland
2006 October UN Report on the International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE 2005) is published
  November UNGA resolution 61/10 is adopted, “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace” which takes note of the Action Plan in the report of the Secretary-General (A/61/373) which serves as an initial road map for a three-year period to expand and strengthen partnerships, sport for development and peace programmes and projects and advocacy and communications activities
2007 February UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport enters into force
  March Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol opens for signature (Article 30 providing that States Parties take appropriate measures to enabling persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure and sporting activities)
  September 3rd ‘Next Step’ Conference is held in Windhoek, Namibia
  December Adolf Ogi concludes his mandate as Special Adviser
2008  April Wilfried Lemke is appointed as 2nd Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace
   May Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol enters into force
   August Olympic Games in Beijing, where a large contingent of UN representatives are present and around/during which a vast number of initiatives are implemented by UN entities
   

Final Report of the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG), “Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Recommendations to Governments,” is published in Beijing

Proposal for a renewed mandate for the SDP IWG into the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace is endorsed by the Executive Committee
  September Paralympic Games in Beijing, providing a platform to raise awareness and stimulate action on advancing the rights of and opportunities for persons living with disabilities
  December UNGA resolution 63/135 is adopted, “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace”
2009 May 1st ‘International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development’ is held in Lausanne, Switzerland, organized by the International Olympic Committee (where several UN bodies such as UNOSDP, UN-Habitat, UNDP and WHO are represented)
  June ‘Forum on Productive Youth Development through Sport in Africa’ is held at the UN Office in Nairobi, Kenya. Joint initiative of the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) and the Jacobs Foundation, in collaboration with the Swiss Academy for Development (SAD) and the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA)
  October UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the 13th Olympic Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark (first time in history that a UN Secretary-General attends an Olympic Congress)
   

Three resolutions on sport adopted by the UN General Assembly :

  • 64/3, granting observer status at the General Assembly to the International Olympic Committee (allowing the IOC to take the floor and participate in consultation meetings)
  • 64/4, calling for the respect of the Olympic Truce Resolution during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, and mentioning the first-ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August 2010
  • 64/5, entitled “2010 International Federation of Association Football World Cup event in South Africa,” urging the international community to harness the World Cup for the development of the whole African continent
2010  May 1st UN-IOC Forum organized in Lausanne, Switzerland, jointly by the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
    Inaugural meeting of the reconstituted Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG) in Geneva, Switzerland, attended by 50 government representatives and intergovernmental organizations to discuss the potential of sport as a means to support child and youth development
  June-July

First-ever FIFA World Cup ™ held on the African continent (in South Africa), with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attending the opening and the UN family at large using the event to make a push for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
   August UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace receives UEFA Monaco Charity Award of €1million by the Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA), to distribute to five Sport for Development and Peace projects worldwide
    First-ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, where three UN agencies (UNAIDS, UNEP and UNICEF) take part in the Cultural and Education Programme (CEP)
   September High-Level Roundtable “The Value of Sport as a Development Tool” held at UN Headquarters in New York, attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Heads of States and Government Representatives
   October UNGA Resolution 65/4 adopted, “Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace”
   December European meeting of the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group at the European Parliament in Brussels, on the theme of 'Sport, Child and Youth Development'
2011 January One-UN 'Score the Goals' comic book on the MDGs is launched in Geneva by UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Iker Casillas

May 2nd International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development is held in Geneva, Switzerland, jointly organized by the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace and the International Olympic Committee
    2nd Plenary Session of the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG) at the United Nations Office at Geneva
  December UNDP's ninth annual Match Against Poverty in Hamburg, Germany


 
 

   

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