Sport and youth development are linked to social transformation

Sport and youth work should be more closely linked because of the enormous influence sport has on positive and cohesive transformation of societies, particularly on the self-esteem and self-confidence of young people.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma underscored this at the 4th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting in Beijing, China, on 9 August 2008. He said sport promotes learning and is a means to develop a healthy lifestyle. It embraces everyone, including those who might otherwise be excluded. He pointed out that sport can bring people closer to others whom they would know better, and advances respect and understanding. It can promote healthier, happier and wiser people, which can translate into societies that are more integrated and attuned to achievement.

"Sport has been and always will be an expression of important truths about individuals, communities and nations," said the Secretary-General. "Our Commonwealth Games are an expression of what binds us together: language, traditions, institutions and above all, the values of freedom, democracy and development; of supporting the poorer, the weaker, and the smaller among us; of being joined together as partners and as equals."

Mr Sharma said Commonwealth leaders at their Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in 2005 underlined the importance of sport as an effective instrument for community and youth development, building character, discipline, tolerance and friendship, promoting fair and open sporting competition, protecting the integrity of young athletes, besides creating broader opportunities for socio-economic development in the Commonwealth.

The Secretary-General cited the role of the Commonwealth Education Trust in its efforts to measure the impact of sport and exercise on young children's health, happiness and academic performance through a project called 'Lifestyles of our kids', or LOOK. He also commended the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport which undertook a project to assemble a body of evidence on the best way that sport can transform societies.

To integrate sport into the Commonwealth's development work, the Secretary-General welcomed the recommendation of sports ministers to establish a full-time Sports Adviser position in the Youth Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, from the current part-time role sponsored in recent years by the Australian and UK Governments as part of their legacy as hosts of the Commonwealth Games in 2006 (Melbourne) and 2002 (Manchester). Mr Sharma sought the support of sports ministers for funding the full-time Sports Adviser's post as part of the commitment of future hosts of Commonwealth Games.

The Secretary-General said having a full-time Sports Adviser was a practical move to build capacity in sport for development. He pointed out the role of sports in the Commonwealth Youth Rehabilitation Centre in Gulu, northern Uganda, where young people traumatised by the civil conflict have been brought into the mainstream of everyday life.

"The establishment of this full-time post will allow us to link sport with the work of one of the jewels in the Commonwealth crown – the 40-year-old Commonwealth Youth Programme which is active across four continents. It will enable us to look more ambitiously at what we can do with sport as the agent of enlightened social transformation and nation-building," said the Secretary-General.

The more than 40 ministers attending the meeting stated in a communiqué that they recognised the growing momentum of the movement to promote sport for development, and the congruence with the work of the Commonwealth to support the achievement of health, social and economic development through sport.

The sports ministers also endorsed the policy adopted by Commonwealth youth ministers at their meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in April this year which advocates the development of policies to provide young people with access to sport education in schools, and that training opportunities be available to teachers and coaches. In addition, young people should be involved in shaping and implementing sport strategies, while national strategies and programmes should be designed to address young people with special needs. These measures are aimed at building teamwork, leadership, tolerance, understanding and co-operation.

The ministers recognised the importance of an integrated youth sport strategy which draws together the education, health, gender, culture, law and order, and sport sectors that will promote the coherence of policies and better co-ordination of programmes.

The ministers acknowledged the good work carried out by the Commonwealth Secretariat to prevent drug use and abuse in sport through its partnership with the World Anti-Doping Agency in supporting experts in Regional Anti-Doping Organization offices in Kenya and Mozambique in Africa; Barbados in the Caribbean; and Fiji Islands in the Pacific, and they expressed the wish for this to continue.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the ministers noted that although 52 Commonwealth countries are signatories of the Copenhagen Declaration on Anti-Doping in Sport, only 26 of them had become a state party to the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport.

The Director-General of the World Anti-Doping Agency, David Howman, who earlier addressed the meeting, encouraged all Commonwealth countries to become state parties to the international convention as a sign of commitment to the anti-doping programme.

Australia's Youth and Sport Minister Kate Ellis, who chaired the Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting, also encouraged Commonwealth countries to take a tough stand on drugs in sport.

In an opening speech, she urged ministers to play a part in ensuring a level playing field in sport.

"As a strong advocate of the need to protect the integrity of sport, I would urge you all to send a strong message to other parts of the globe that the Commonwealth family takes this issue very seriously. We can hardly advocate sport as a vehicle for social cohesion, community building and personal development, if the vehicle is damaged," said Ms Ellis.

Click here for the full text of Kamalesh Sharma's speech

Click here for the full text of the final Communique

Secretariat Links:

• Sport
• Commonwealth Youth Programme
• Secretary-General
• Beijing Communiqué