Publications & Key Documents

Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace

The SDP IWG Releases a Groundbreaking Report Presenting Evidence of the Effectiveness of Sport for Development and Peace and Recommendations to Governments

The Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group is pleased to present Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Recommendations to Governments the final report of the working group’s four-year initiative. This report demonstrates that well-designed programs that prioritize the best values of sport can drive development goals forward. It presents: Consolidated up-to-date evidence of sport’s effectiveness as a development agent in key thematic areas health and disease prevention, child and youth development, gender empowerment, inclusion of persons with disabilities, and peace-building; Specific policy recommendations for government sectors working in these areas; and Practical and cross-cutting policy recommendations to all ministries within national governments on how to integrate sport as a tool for development and peace into national and international development policies and programs. The SDP IWG is also pleased to present theSummary of Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Recommendations to Governments, which presents a summary of key findings and recommendations from the final report. French Spanish Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Recommendations to Governments is complemented by a companion document, Sport for Development and Peace: Governments in Action, which profiles the Sport for Development and Peace activities of 34 countries from around the world.

Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Recommendations to Governments is now available for download by section.

Navigational Map, Table of Contents, Foreword and Acknowledgements

Chapter One: Introduction to Sport for Development and Peace(1.5MB)

Chapter Two: Sport and Health: Preventing Disease and Promoting Health(1.7MB)

Chapter Three: Sport for Children and Youth: Fostering Development and Strengthening Education(1.6MB)

Chapter Four: Sport and Gender: Empowering Girls and Women(1.7 MB)

Chapter Five: Sport and Persons with Disabilities: Fostering Inclusion and Well-Being(1.6MB)

Chapter Six: Sport and Peace: Social Inclusion, Conflict  Prevention and Peace Building(1.7MB)

Chapter Seven: Developing Effective Policies and Programs(1.5 MB)

Appendices List of SDP IWG Participants, Milestones, Resources, Glossary and Acronyms

From the Field: Sport for Development and Peace in Action

From the Field, a collection of dynamic projects and programs that are using sport to achieve diverse development objectives, highlights five key themes:

• Child and Youth Development
• Health and Prevention of Diseases
• Gender Equality
• Inclusion of People with Disabilities
• Social Integration and Peace Building

The projects and programs presented have been compiled through personal interviews with Sport for Development and Peace Practitioners in the field and the initiatives featured from the local, regional and national levels come from the diverse regions of Africa, Europe, Asia, South American and the Caribbean.

Please click to download:

Part One: Title page, Contents, Forward, Chapter 1: Child and Youth Development  

Part Two: Chapter 2: Health and Prevention of Diseases and Chapter 3: Gender Equality

Part Three: Chapter 4: Inclusion of People with Disabilities and Chapter 5: Social Integration and Peace Building

Literature Reviews on Sport for Development and Peace

Sport and physical activity are rapidly gaining recognition as simple, low-cost, and effective means of achieving development goals. Over the past decade, UN agencies, international sport federations, international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national governments have been using sport as a tool for development and peace. As part of the SDP IWG mandate and recognizing the ever-growing need for evidence around the effectiveness of sport for development, in 2006 the Secretariat to the SDP IWG commissioned a research team from the University of Toronto, coordinated by Dr. Bruce Kidd, Dean, Faculty of Physical Education and Health, to conduct literature reviews looking into the use of sport to:

• Foster child and youth development and education
• Achieve health objectives
• Promote gender equity
• Foster inclusion, health and wellbeing of people with disabilities
• Foster social cohesion, prevent and reduce conflict and build peace

The literature reviews looked into the research published in peer reviewed journals, as well as other literature. The final reviews were edited by Dr. Kidd and Professor Peter Donnelly, Director, Centre for Sport Policy Studies.

For the full version pdf document please click here

SDP IWG Newsletters

The SDP IWG Newsletter features the work of governments, NGOs and individuals around the globe working to use sport as a tool for development.

From Practice to Policy

Tasked with preparing an initial overview of the status of Sport for Development and Peace,the SDP IWG Bureau and Secretariat produced, "From Practice to Policy", a report investigating current practice at the national government level and to inform the development of a series of policy recommendations for presentation at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

This report discusses the concept of Sport for Development and Peace. It identifies the particular benefits that sport offers in the development context and looks at the strong growing support for Sport for Development and Peace internationally. The report also reviews key findings from an examination of thirteen national governments and their approaches to Sport for Development and Peace. Further, it synthesizes key themes which emerge from this study. The report concludes with suggestions of future directions the SDP IWG may choose to pursue and practical measures that can be taken; to increase the awareness of national governments and support their efforts to harness the tremendous power of sport for the benefit of their citizens and, in the case of donor countries, those of their development partners around the world.

To download the full report of "From Practice to Policy"  or the Executive Summaries click on:

Full version PDF in English and Spanish

For increased accessibility, we have also posted a text version of the report.

Executive Summaries are available in: Arabic, English, French, German, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.