The Accra Call for Action
on Sport for Development and Peace
December 4, 2007 Accra, Ghana
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On December 4th, 2007 the Executive Committee of the Sport for Development
and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG) held its third meeting
in Accra,
Ghana. The meeting, co-hosted and chaired by the Minister of State for
Education,
Science and Sport, Ghana brought together ministers of youth and sport,
and their
representatives, from 43 nations to discuss ways to harness the power
of sport to
advance national and international development goals. Ministers were joined
by
representatives from the United Nations Development Program, UN-Habitat,
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Office of the UN
Special
Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, as well as some inter-governmental
bodies (African Union, European Commission, Supreme Council of Sport for
Africa) and non-governmental organizations.
Ministers discussed key policy recommendations aimed at helping national
governments to integrate sport into their national and international development
frameworks and policies, and discussed ways to accelerate inter-governmental
outreach and engagement in the lead-up to the release of the SDP IWG’s
Final
Report at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. Ministers also considered
how best to leverage the Games as a platform for Sport for Development
and
Peace and how to sustain the growing global momentum in favour of Sport
for
Development and Peace following the completion of the SDP IWG’s
mandate in
2008.
During its discussions, the SDP IWG:
- Recognized sport’s potential
to contribute to attaining the Millennium Development Goals and related
development objectives in the areas of: child & youth development
and education; health; the inclusion and wellbeing of people with disabilities;
gender equity and the empowerment of women and girls; and conflict prevention
and peace-building ;
- Committed to continue promoting
sport as a tool for development and peace at regional inter-governmental
fora and encouraging the participation of new governments in the final
meeting of the SDP IWG Executive Committee and the launch of its final
report in Beijing, China ;
- Acknowledged the generous support
of five funders of the SDP IWG: the Governments of Canada, Norway, Switzerland
and Austria, and Right To Play;
- Expressed its appreciation to UNDP
for its critical role in chairing the SDP IWG from its inception;
- Commended the excellent work of
international humanitarian organization
Right To Play, Secretariat to the SDP
IWG; and
- Thanked the Beijing Olympic Organizing
Committee for their generous
agreement to co-host the final meeting of the SDP IWG and the launch
of
its final report on August 7th, 2008.
On the basis of its deliberations, the SDP IWG recommended that governments
worldwide:
- Include the use of sport for development and peace goals
in their national
sport policies;
- Integrate Sport for Development and Peace into their international
assistance and national development frameworks and strategies –
in
particular Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers – drawing on the expertise
and support of governments that have already done so;
- Make appropriate budget allocations and financial investments,
including in
human capacity-building, infrastructure and equipment, to enable sport
to
fulfill its development and peace potential;
- Raise awareness of this potential within their governments, with
other
government, multilateral and NGO development stakeholders, as well as
the general public and engage the media to assist in this process;
- Instil sport and physical activity as a lifelong habit by ensuring
that all
children have access to quality physical education in all primary and
secondary school curricula;
- Develop partnerships across government departments and with
international funding bodies, sport federations, non-governmental
organizations, the private sector, and local governments for the purpose
of
leveraging resources, accessing expertise, and mobilizing participation
in
Sport for Development and Peace initiatives;
- Recognize the importance of sport as a right and give particular
attention to
ensuring the full inclusion of girls and women, people with disabilities,
children and youth, and other socially excluded groups in sport, and to
mobilizing sport for the full inclusion of these groups in society;
- Include robust monitoring and evaluation components in all Sport
for
Development and Peace initiatives; and
- Ensure these initiatives draw on the full range of physical activities,
sports
and games (traditional and non-traditional) as a means of encouraging
participation, and are equally accessible in rural and urban areas.
In order to sustain global momentum in support of Sport for Development
and
Peace, the SDP IWG:
- Reiterated the importance of its
final report to advancing international efforts to harness the power
of sport to advance national and global development and peace goals;
- Agreed to the ongoing need for
a coordinating forum to support knowledge exchange and capacity-building
and Sport for Development and Peace policy implementation following
the completion of the original SDP IWG mandate;
- Requested Right To Play to examine
the feasibility and develop a strategy for extending the SDP IWG mandate
for 2008 – 2010;
- Urged United Nations agencies,
programs and funds to fully recognize, and provide tangible support
to countries wishing to harness, the peace and development potential
of sport;
- Recognized the need for the work
of the SDP IWG to continue in the longterm within the UN system up to
2015 (MDGs); and
- Discussed the need for an international
framework on Sport for Development and Peace to coordinate outreach
and advocacy; mobilize additional resources; foster new programs and
initiatives; and measure progress against universal targets, timelines
and milestones for the global use of sport for development and peace.
The following governments were present at the meeting:
Angola
Austria
Azerbaijan
Benin
Burundi
Canada
Cape Verde
Chad
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
El Salvador |
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guatemala
India
Jordan
Kenya
Lebanon
Malawi
Mali
Malaysia
Namibia
Netherlands |
Nigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian
National
Authority
Papua New
Guinea
Peru
Rwanda
Sierra Leone |
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Switzerland
Tanzania
Uganda
United
Kingdom
Zambia
Zimbabwe |
Contact
United Nations Office at Geneva
Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary General
Geneva, Switzerland
Email: lwillig@unog.ch

http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5
The Accra Call for Action
on Sport for Development and Peace
December 4, 2007
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