ICSSPE News
No.44
May 2005
 
    

Sport for Development and Peace?
International Forum Sports and Development, Bad Boll, 12-14 February 2005
Detlef Dumon, ICSSPE, Germany

 

The KiJuBallett of Christina Schilling, Switzerland, Biel-Bienne.
The KiJuBallett (Kinder-und Jugendtanzgruppe, Children and Youth Dance-Company) is a formation of the Childrens Dance-School, where they learn the new dance style ,Afro Rythme Danse` (African Contemporary Dance), developed by Christina Schilling. "Afro Rythme Danse" is a union of rhythm and dance.
Photographer: E. Fink, CH-Biel

Opportunities and boundaries of development through sport – these were the two sides taken in which a 2 day long ongoing discussion took place at the Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll, Germany. The initiative to hold the event was taken by ICSSPE President Gudrun Doll-Tepper and Programme Director Reverend Volker Steinbrecher, Evangelische Akademie. Though they are well aware of certain activities by governments and UN agencies, both criticise the still existing issue of underestimating sport as a tool for development by many national governments, international governmental organisations and by the corporate sector.
"Isn't it fantastic what happens right now between India and Pakistan?", Steinbrecher comments on the recent cricket match between the two National teams attended by both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. "And resources of sport have not all been siphoned, yet." - But, can sport actually initiate communication between two countries that have been at war against each other for a couple of decades? Former IOC Vice President Dr. Thomas Bach warned conference participants not to expect too much of an influence sport might have on world politics, even if involvement in political affairs may be of limited success, as the engagement of the IOC which led to a common entry of both, the North Korean and the South Korean team under one flag in the opening ceremony of the Olympics, 2000 in Sydney. This then leads to further questions such as should the IOC also get active in for example, abandoning sport facilities and equipment that have been produced through child labour?
Sport Development Projects and their discussion are nothing new. Often these projects follow more than one aim: the support of a developing region, country or societal group and the political or economical interest of the donor country. Development aid by German authorities for example, is called International Development Co-operation, which follows the principle of balance of interests which also includes the necessary input and benefit for German Sports. One speaker described the common situation that models for development tools have been developed and are being sold to governmental agencies for their development projects instead of looking at the real needs of a recipient which means respective organisations try to find a problem for the solution they are trying to sell.
A more optimistic view was taken by Aneesa Al-Hitmi, president of the Women's commission of the NOC for Qatar and FIFA representative of her country, during her keynote speech at the Bad Boll conference. Looking at the upcoming Asian Games and further national activities to develop professional sports in Qatar, in her opinion, large sport events can influence a nation's physical activity. Supporting this stance, Adolf Ogi, UN Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, also urged the sceptics among the conference participants not to hesitate any longer.
The more controversial aspects of sport export were highlighted by Roland Renson, Leuven, Belgium. He asked for examples in which sport has been successfully used as a means of nation building. He referred to examples in which sport could be interpreted as a modern form of colonisation and recommends that sport development needs scientific credibility and should only be granted if wished by the recipient.
Joe Maguire, ICSSPE Regional Coordinator Western Europe from Loughborough, UK, looks at the pros and cons of international sports development: "On the one hand, and reinforcing the views of the sports-industrial complex, global sport is viewed as a thoroughly progressive and liberating phenomenon that opens up the potential for greater human contacts... In contrast to such sentiments, the present structure of global sport can also be seen as a symptomatic of a new and consumer dominated phase of western capitalism."
During the discussion it became quickly obvious that not all participants had the same understanding of what the main focus of the conference was. Depending on cultural, biographical and educational background definitions of sports, physical education and physical activity vary and therefore it is difficult to reach an agreement to which extent the different fields can support the development of the others.
"Our plan was promote the International Year of Sport and Physical Education and I see the conference in Bad Boll together with our partners of the Evangelische Akademie as an important means to demonstrate to the broad public and ministries responsible the benefits of a physically active society.”, Gudrun Doll-Tepper emphasises. The conference referred to the 1st Magglingen Conference in 2003 and will be one pillar of the upcoming 2nd conference in December 2005, in the context of which a 2nd World Summit on Physical Education is planned to update participants of changes since the 1st Summit in Berlin, 1999.
The conference preparation showed that interest of different societal groups varies tremendously. The greatest interest was found in the group of experts who work practically in the development field, followed by scientists of various sport science sub-disciplines. The German government supported the conference to a large extent. Little interest was shown by the media and by the corporate sector, though support for the conference was given by DaimlerChrysler and Robert Bosch GmbH. Even organisations who are active opponents in the battle against globalisation and its deformities, decided not to take part. Also, the interest seemed to grow after the Tsunami in Southeast Asia which still received a lot of media attendance in the weeks before the conference. Talking to one of the present journalists our assumption was confirmed: Stories need to be good-selling. Discussions and analysis of sport and development seem largely confined to academics without attracting attention of a broader public audience on the same scale as mainstream professional and commercialised sports. But DaimlerChrysler Vice President Michael Inacker claims that DaimlerChrysler doesn't only support sport activities that receive great media attendance and that some of the support happens without public attention.
In her final statement Gudrun Doll-Tepper argues that there is enough evidence of how work in the development area can be done - despite the necessity of scientific monitoring and ongoing research work. She strongly believes the International Year of Sport and Physical Education should be used as an opportunity to further sport for development, health, education and peace.
The organisers are currently producing a documentation of the conference in German and English which will include presentations and summaries of the different sessions and additional declarations and documentations.




http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-may2005.htm