Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Colleagues,
It is a pleasure to join you for this Expert Group Meeting on Sports Values for Preventing Violent Extremism. I wish to thank the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism for inviting me to take part in this important meeting and providing me the opportunity to reflect on its theme from the perspective of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
It is widely acknowledged that sport can serve as a source of empowerment, inclusion and inspiration, bringing communities around the world together in its celebration. Sport raises the confidence and wellbeing of participants and can empower all segments of society, including those who tend to be left behind such as women and girls, youth, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and older persons. Sport helps members of a society to grow together and can contribute to functioning democracy, with trust in the rule of law and public institutions. History has shown again and again, from ancient Greece to modern South Africa, that sport has the power to promote tolerance and to reconcile communities in conflict.
Recognizing this, the Member States of the United Nations have worked to build a normative framework to guide and advance the contributions of sport to development and peace, including through the prevention of violent extremism that we are here to explore today. This framework starts with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which recognizes sport as an enabler of peace and development and it continues with the United Nations Action Plan on Sport and the Kazan Action Plan and the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity. Last year, the General Assembly adopted the resolution on Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal, known as the Olympic Truce resolution, which recognizes the role of sport in countering terrorism and violent extremism. The critical role of sport in reducing violence and conflict is also recognized by Member States in frameworks focused on youth – a key social group, in terms of the prevention of violent extremism for example, in the World Programme of Action for Youth.
Now, despite such advances, we know the potential of sport in this regard has not yet been fully realized. The initiative of UNOCT and its partners is therefore most important. I wish to commend UNOCT for the approach taken in identifying the critical issues, involving all relevant stakeholders, and formulating practical tools to reach out to real people on the ground, and try to make their lives better. This is the real purpose of our work. And the approach taken by UNOCT can be used by other UN entities, each one within its mandate.
As I express the support of DESA for the initiative, let me also share with you some information about our work relevant to the subject of Sport.
Role of DESA
Since 2017, DESA, through the Division for Inclusive Social Development, has housed the substantive portfolio on sport for development and peace in the UN system. DESA has been working to maximize the positive contributions of sport – including as a tool to counter violent extremism - through the UN Action Plan on Sport.
As the global analytical branch of the UN Secretariat, DESA has been doing so, through its research and thought leadership. It is DESA/DISD who coordinates and prepares the biennial Reports of the Secretary-General on sport as a global accelerator of peace and sustainable development for all, a collaborative effort, of course.
This year, the Report benefited from the inputs of 25 Member States, 22 UN entities and 14 other stakeholders. When analyzed in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, more than 60% of initiatives were aligned with SDG 16, the goal of good governance and the rule of law. Relevant examples include countries as diverse as Guatemala and Moldova, and I would like to mention details of these actions, but time does not permit.
The SG report concludes with recommendations, also relevant here, in particular on 1. promoting increased provision of capacity for the development and implementation of relevant national polities and approaches; and 2. strengthened UN system-wide coherence. The report further recommends that 3. UN entities continue to provide research, normative and policy guidance to support the engagement of Governments and other stakeholders, in their use of sport for development and peace; and 4. addresses the lack of centralized global socioeconomic data and statistics on sport.
COVID19
Unfortunately, in 2020, we cannot discuss the role of sport in the prevention of violent extremism without acknowledging the impact of COVID19 on the world of sport. In May, DESA published a policy brief on this topic, setting out recommendations, seeking to both support the safe re-opening of sporting events following the pandemic, and to maximize the benefits that sport and physical activity can bring in the age of COVID19 and beyond. I am glad to note that 118 countries signed a joint statement expressing support for the brief.
DESA has since spearheaded a cooperative effort with other UN entities to prepare a soon-to-be published joint advocacy brief on how sport can contribute to “building better together” in the context of COVID19. In relation to SDG 16, the brief recognizes the role that sport can play in increasing rejection by children and youth of violence and crime, and in promoting conflict prevention and peaceful co-existence. The brief concludes with suggestions regarding the role that can be played by the United Nations system to help address such gaps. The initiative of UNOCT is highly consistent with these suggestions.
In conclusion, DESA would welcome the opportunity to work more closely with UNOCT in its critical endeavor. Such cooperation could take the many forms, and we can discuss those together; for example, joint research; or partnership for promotion of the role of sport in advancing development and peace; or capacity development, as DESA is currently developing a programme of technical cooperation to support Member States, to best utilize sport to advance development and peace.
I wish you fruitful discussions and thank you for your attention.