International Day of Sport for development and peace 2015

On April 6^th 2015 , the second International Day of Sport and Peace is celebrated, established in 2014 by the United Nations.

This day contributes to raise awareness about the positive influence that sport can have on human rights as well as on social and economic development.

Since the establishment of the “United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace“, sport has been recognized as a tool with low cost and high impact, able to contribute to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, stressing its vital role in education, in the dissemination of knowledge on HIV / AIDS, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Sport and its values, indeed, contribute to spread useful tools for education, development, peace and can promote cooperation, solidarity, tolerance, understanding, social inclusion, health and development at both national and international level.

In the resolution A/RES/67/296^[1], the Secretary General calls on all actors involved, from states to civil society organizations, to cooperate, observe and disseminate the objectives promoted by the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.

Placing sport at the service of humanity and promoting peace within in society through healthy lifestyles, combining sport with culture and education allows to counter discrimination linked to disability, to cultural or religious differences.

As stated by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN, “Sport has become a world language, a common denominator able to break all the walls, all the barriers. […] It is a powerful tool for progress and development”.

In Italy, this year, sport will be in the spotlight, as the city of Turin has been chosen as the capital of Sport 2015. The events held in the city will be a time when sport is the protagonist and advocate of values, as called for in the White Paper on Sport European Union. This opportunity was made possible thanks to an intense cooperation among various organizations and institutions that are engaged in a major project of culture and sports promotion, involvement and sport for “all”, as a tool for growth and aggregation.

Sport that excites, expressed through images, words, music and sport events, has been included in a schedule where national and international sporting events, many Italian championships and international trophies, will alternate with those devoted to basic sport, with a social dimension, through initiatives addressed to students, and many cultural events where issues related to welfare, to healthy lifestyles, ethics in sport will be dealt with.

CESIE gives its contribution in this field through some of its projects, in order to promote the transfer of skills and messages on the positive value of sport:

• SPAcE- Supporting Policy and Action for Active Environments, envisaging the study, creation and promotion of urban environments more favourable in terms of physical activity.
• HEALTHFIT -Promoting Wellbeing in youth, aiming to train youth workers on the importance of a healthy diet and regular physical activity. Encouraging the exchange of experiences, good practices, customs, traditions, and promote cooperation between Europe and the countries of the Eastern Partnership to find new healthy lifestyle.
• SPLUS Sport Plus: looking up new goals, promoting the sport as an educational tool for social inclusion, especially for those with fewer opportunities for integration, involving youth workers, group leaders and project leaders interested in issues of sport and the use of sport as an educational tool.