African countries have been tasked to leverage sports to promote peace, gender equality, and champion unity and development within the continent and the world at large.
A coordinator of the African Union Sports Council (AUSC), Dr. Decius Chipande, made the call at a press conference in Accra yesterday to launch the AUSC and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)’s Global Sports Programme 2024 – 2027 partnership.
He acknowledged and expressed satisfaction for the unique and historic moment that Ghana is witnessing by hosting the 13th edition of the African Games 2023.
“As we can see, the African Games bring together athletes from across the continent, putting the spotlight not only on athletic talent but also celebrating African culture and heritage, and promoting positive values of solidarity and integration,” he stated.
Dr. Chipande reiterated that the Games offer a crucial and effective platform for fostering youth inclusion, gender equality and social cohesion, as key priorities for making the Agenda 2063 aspirations of “The African We Want” a tangible reality.
“Through the African Union Sport Council (AUSC), established in 2016, the AU promotes sport development and sports for development in Africa with a focus on youth, safeguarding, gender equality, and regional integration, supporting programmes that use sports to promote the aspirations of the ‘Africa We Want,” he insisted.
He reiterated that the AU Policy for Sustainable Development of Sport in Africa 2023-2033 encourages Member States, AU Sports Council Regions and sports federations to mainstream gender within safe and inclusive sport policy frameworks, as well as other collaboration initiatives with UN and international entities.
“It is within this framework that the AU Sports Council has closely collaborated with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism in the last couple of years, since preliminary briefings were carried out with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) in November 2022, here in Accra, in preparation for these Games,” he said.
Collaboration
The joint collaboration with UNOCT’s Global Sports Programme, he explained, aims to leverage sport-values for PVE, and promote good practices on major sporting event security policies, as well as the development of youth fora.
“Such initiatives underscore youth’s substantive role from the initial stages of bidding, planning, executing, and post-event procedures in the context of sporting events, as well as their unique potential to meaningfully engage vulnerable populations and instill resilience to violent extremism,” he noted.
Commenting on building effective synergy, he pointed out that the AUSC and UNOCT had prepared a joint work plan for activities to be implemented in 2024.
The plan includes the delivery of technical assistance and guidance on the use of sport to foster peace and resilience and its safeguard, in response to requests from African Union Member States, youth leaders, sport federations and associations, and civil society organizations.
“This joint work plan is living proof of the goodwill of the AU and the fulfillment of its mandate through meaningful inclusion and engagement of women and youth to foster resilience across the African continent, the promotion of gender mainstreaming, as well as intercultural and interreligious understanding, as tools to prevent violent extremism and secure major sporting events,” he added.
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