WorldWiseAthlete.com | Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2016

Sport & Youth Development

Olympics & Youth Development

According to the Olympics.org website (Development through Sport – Sport a Tool for Development):

"Beyond physical well-being, sport can play an important role for a safer, more prosperous and more peaceful society, through its educational values and worldwide network. Although the beneficial effects of sport for development are still not exploited to their full extent, sport can help bridge cultural and ethnic divides, create jobs and businesses, promote tolerance and non-discrimination, reinforce social integration, and advocate healthy lifestyles. Through sports development, we can achieve wider human development goals. Although sports development cannot be a panacea to solve all the issues of society nor a priority compared to life-subsistence needs of disadvantaged communities, it can generate many positive effects and be a valuable tool for development. It is both a means and an end in itself."

The Olympics has been working in different ways to support youth development. Since 2004, the IOC has been working with the UN Development agency to promote healthy lifestyles and understanding of HIV/AIDS. The IOC and the UNHCR have worked together since 1996 on sports projects for refugee camps and resettlement areas around the world. Basic sports equipment and recreational activities are offered to these deprived populations, composed mostly of children and young people who are particularly in need of leisure activities to overcome the idleness of their life in a camp.

The Olympic "Giving is Winning" campaign, started in Athens in 2004, continued in Beijing in 2008, and continuing in London in 2012 supports international collaboration to collect and donate sports and casual clothing to those in need (Olympic.org – Giving is Winning).

With the support of the IOC, An Olympic Youth Development Centre was opened in Zambia in 2010. A second Centre is being developed for Haiti.

During the 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore, as part of the Culture and Education Programme (CEP) at the YOG, the IOC's partner organisations taught participating athletes about important topics such as sustainability, doping, Olympism, HIV/AIDS, children's rights, fair play, first aid and humanitarian assistance. Interactive booths were set up at the heart of the Youth Olympic Village, giving athletes the chance to learn about these topics in a fun and engaging way, as well as discovering how they can contribute to resolving these issues. These efforts targeted YOG youth in a way that allowed them to find out more about specific global issues while enjoying themselves at the same time.

The IOC, in cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Samsung will support and effort to provide more than 150,000 young people living in camps for refugees and internally displaced people, access to sport through a two-year programme which will see the distribution of IOC sports kits in 20 countries throughout Asia, Africa and America. The effort focuses on bringing the joy of sport and the related psychological benefits to young refugees who have often suffered enormous atrocities."