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SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE THE UN SYSTEM IN ACTION

© UNOSDP

The Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG) is an inter-governmental policy initiative whose aim is to promote the integration of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) policy recommendations into the national and international development strategies of national governments.

Mandate

The SDP IWG promotes and supports the adoption of policies and programmes by national governments to harness the potential of sport to contribute to the achievement of development objectives, specifically the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and peace.

Objectives

To fulfill this mandate, the SDP IWG:

  1. Provides a forum for governments to benefit from each other’s experiences and share best practices;
  2. Supports the implementation of policy recommendations; and
  3. Sustains momentum with regard to government awareness and take-up in SDP.

Strategic Approach

With the aim of developing and adopting an international framework and sustaining momentum around the development potential of sport, the strategic approach of the SDP IWG is based on three key components:

1. BUILDING AWARENESS & ENCOURAGING DIALOGUE ON SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT & PEACE


Goal: Undertake outreach and engagement activity to expand the number of governments that are actively engaged in SDP dialogue and to strengthen existing SDP initiatives of governments. Support the integration of SDP IWG recommendations into national and international development strategies and programmes.

Activities:

  • Host international and regional SDP IWG meetings within the framework of existing conferences;
  • Promote the inclusion of SDP on the agenda of inter-governmental meetings;
  • Facilitate information and knowledge-sharing through communication tools such as website(s) and regular newsletters on government SDP activities;
  • Engage various departments and ministries of governments in SDP policy dialogue;
  • Mobilize and support early adopter governments to do peer outreach;
  • Enlist participation and support advocacy efforts of civil society organisations
  • Advocate evidence-based investment in SDP;
  • Stimulate and encourage SDP research;
  • Engage multilateral organisations in the SDP dialogue;
  • Engage and strengthen the UN Group of Friends;
  • Based on peer-reviewed benchmarks and research assist UNOSDP with regard to the inclusion of SDP on the UN agenda (including the General Assembly, UN funds, programmes and specialized agencies).
2. REPORTING ON ACTIVITIES OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS


Goal: Encourage regular, voluntary reporting on the progress of national governments in developing and implementing sport for development-related policies to inform policy development and to create a sense of peer momentum.

Activities:

  • Conduct research to obtain baseline data on government SDP activities
  • Produce and disseminate regular reporting on governments’ SDP activities;
  • Identify best practices of governments and develop implementation models and benchmarking tools;
  • Employ benchmarking tools to track the progress of governments in implementing policy recommendations;
  • Identify and address barriers to implementation of the policy recommendations internationally and regionally.
3. BUILDING CAPACITY OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS


Goal: Support governments in policy development and implementation.

Activities:

  • Foster cross-government knowledge exchange and development of a distinct SDP policy community through government participation in the SDP IWG;
  • Link governments to relevant SDP policy experts to assist and/or link governments with common experiences or approaches;
  • Promote the use of development principles in SDP policies and programs and sensitize sport actors to these principles

 

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