2nd International Forum on Sport for Peace - Naciones Unidas

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summaries
However, only some IFs had concrete and explicit strategies in place, and most actions were reactive
or coincidental. While willing to contribute to society’s well being, their first mission remained to
develop and promote their respective sport and they were still disorganised and dispersing their
efforts and funding for human development programmes through sport.
He stressed that there was a critical need for better coordination of the large number of projects
within the IFs, but also among the sports movement at large. This required increased communication
and sharing of best practices, setting realistic and reachable objectives, as well as streamlined
partnerships between the sports movement and NGOs, UN agencies and national governments,
which had resources dedicated to all of the MDGs in their various ministries.
Panel discussion
ms Tove Paule,
Former President and honorary member of the Norwegian Olympic
and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of sports
Ms Paule presented the example of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and
Confederation of Sports (NIF), which had for the past 150 years played a part in building a healthy
and active society in Norway and since 1982 had used its core business – sport – to contribute to
reducing poverty in developing countries.
The NIF worked in partnership with other National Sport Councils, governments, National Olympic
Committees (NOCs) and non-governmental organisations and concentrated on enhancing sport
systems through organisational capacity and community-based leadership. It also adhered to three
basic building blocks including: 1) quality sport, 2) strong and sustainable organisational structures
and 3) positive life skills. These three factors were, for her, the ingredients for sport to be a positive
agent of change and a catalyst for contributing to the MDGs.
To be effective, actions also needed “long term commitment” and “partner support” toward the
development and implementation of quality education for coaches, including life skills education,
the development of community-based sports structures embraced by local government and the
sports federations and the development of volunteer capacity through training of community leaders.
But beyond the numerous successes, she felt there were still many challenges in sport to achieve the
MDGs, such as: 1) funding, as most projects suffered from a general lack of long-term commitment
from founders; 2) lack of understanding of cultural differences; and 3) lack of reflection on the
added value of programmes, policies and activities. She criticised a strong desire to work with
successful partners in the southern hemisphere rather than risk developing new ones which could
reduce the ability of successful organisations to achieve results. In concluding, she outlined three
key recommendations: lead by example; support for the long term; and assist, share and in some
cases mandate acceptance.
<strong>2nd</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Forum</strong> on Sport for Peace & Development
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