Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Sports for Development and Peace


My 18 months old nephew kicks the ball when I ask him to score a goal.  Every Saturday Tudikhel is full of young people playing different sorts of sports. Sports in general have been very popular all over the world and have been able to stay inside the hearts of people. There must be very few people who would not love one or the other type of sports.
  
Sport like football has a very long history of origin and often is known as the king of the sports. It has something that attracts people and brings them together. In case of Nepal, recently we have seen how football and cricket united the whole citizen and made them a single Nepalese at the time when people are/were divided based on political identity, ethnicity and ideology. Football has always proved itself as a tool to unite people whether on the ground or outside of the ground.   

Generally, football has been used as a tool of entertainment. However, it has some time been also used as an instrument for propaganda and a tool of state control. Documentary by an English television channel, BBCFour titled Communism and Football; and Fascism and Football explains the way the state or the leader used football to fight their political ideology. Football pitch became the arena where political ideologies were jugged.

Regardless of the history of the exploitation of football, there has been number of initiatives that have used football for positive changes in the society. Star footballer Didier Drogba became so influential that his call to stop the continuing fighting in Cote d’Ivoire after his national team qualified for the 2006 World Cup led to a five year ceasefire agreement.

Once Bishop Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize winner 1984) said, “Sport does have a meaningful and powerful role to play in the social transformation of society if care is taken to provide the necessary conditions for success”. With this philosophy, Football for Peace (f4p) has been running its program in more than 9 countries. It recognizes the potential of football as a medium to teach positive personal values that lay foundations for enhanced inter-community relations. The program aims to teach values like Trust, Responsibility, Respect, Inclusion, and Equity to the children below 16.

Soccer without Borders is another example. They have been running the program in three different countries with a mission to use football as a vehicle for positive change, providing under-served youth a toolkit to overcome obstacles to growth, inclusion and personal success. Many underprivileged and socially excluded groups, especially refugees in case of America has benefited from this project.

Recognizing the importance of sports in our lives, this year the UN announced 6th April as an International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says, “Sport has become a world language, a common denominator that breaks down all the walls, all the barriers. It is a worldwide industry whose practices can have widespread impact. Most of all, it is a powerful tool for progress and for development.”  In context of Nepal, despite of the impression of no future with sports, there is no doubt that Nepalese are a sports lover. There is a tremendous opportunity to use sports in country like Nepal especially when we are at the post conflict stage as a tool to bring young people together and work with them for the positive change in their life and society in order to support the peace building process. “Reaching to them” is a successful step.