© UNOSDP

2011 was actually an anniversary year, with the mandate of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace having been created in 2001.

In the foreword of the report, the Special Adviser, Mr. Wilfried Lemke, stresses how sport is now “clearly placed on the UN agenda” and how 2011 provided “many opportunities for building new partnerships and strengthening existing ones.”

Highlights of the year included:

• the publication of the UN educational comic book “Score the Goals” in January, featuring 10 football stars;
• the 2^nd International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development held in Geneva in May, also in connection with the the 2^nd plenary session of the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG);
• the adoption of the General Assembly Resolution on the Olympic Truce in October;
• the support extended to 5 grassroots projects worldwide thanks to the one million euro award received in 2010 from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA);
• and the preparations for the inaugural ‘UNOSDP Youth Leadership Camp’ held in Doha in January 2012.

Click here for the full version of UNOSDP's Annual Report 2011.

– Ends –

The United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) works to promote sport as an innovative and efficient tool in advancing the United Nations’ goals, missions and values.

Through advocacy, partnership facilitation, policy work, project support and diplomacy, UNOSDP strives to maximize the contribution of sport and physical activity to help create a safer, more secure, more sustainable, more equitable future.

The Office is headed by the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace and consists of a Head Office in Geneva and a Liaison Office in New York.

The current Special Adviser, Wilfried Lemke, was appointed in April 2008 by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Mr Lemke succeeds Adolf Ogi, former President of the Swiss Confederation, who served as Special Adviser between 2001 and 2007.

The Special Adviser and UNOSDP fully rely on voluntary contributions – mainly from Governments – for fulfilling their mandate. Since Mr Lemke’s appointment, Germany has been the main funding partner of the Office.

On 18 October 2010, the UN General Assembly passed its resolution 65/4, inviting the international community to provide voluntary contributions to, and to enter into innovative partnerships with, UNOSDP.

In order to effectively implement their mandate, the Special Adviser and UNOSDP act as the gateway to the UN system in the field of Sport for Development and Peace, and actively engage with an extensive network of stakeholders, including UN entities, civil society organizations, Governments, sports federations, academia, the private sector and the media.

Since 2009, UNOSDP has also been hosting the Secretariat of the reconstituted Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG), an intergovernmental policy initiative established in 2004, whose aim is to promote and support the integration of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) policy and programme recommendations into the national and international development strategies of Governments.

« Back