Sports and International Development
Introduction
Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) is a global movement that started in the 2000s with the purpose of Millennium Development Goals. Currently, its operations are active across the globe. However, the use of sport as a tool in development is derived more from the perception of Mandela. He proclaimed that sport could change the world (Taylor-Leech, 2019). It is a perception which made United Stations make a step of recognizing sport and its diplomatic of peacebuilding (Reilly, 2018). Based on such an opinion, there is the development of various SDP programs across the globe which have been created to achieve development objectives. From this perspective, the ideas of developing initiatives on how sport can be used to leverage peace and positive youth development have emerged. In these programs, youths are trained to become facilitators so that they can spread positive sports influence on the youths (Vierimaa et al., 2016). In this paper, therefore, the point of concern will show how sport can be used as the tool of bringing social development and peace to young people and also the marginalized social groups.
Case Study of SPORTIMPACT in Timor-Leste
East Timor is in the category of the developing countries, and it is usually characterized by war and instabilities. Since the time East Timor declared itself independent in 1975, internal and external conflicts have existed to date (Havas, 2017). Approximately nine days later after gaining their independence, the country was invaded by the Indonesians. The following two decades of Indonesian occupation saw over 100,000 deaths resulting from conflicts. In 1999, a referendum was held, which was sponsored by the United Nations; however, it only exacerbated the issues. In 2002, they regained their independence and was internationally recognized (Havas, 2017). This action minimized external conflicts; nonetheless, civil wars became rampant. These tensions mostly culminated in 2006 and were due to factors like collapsed or weak state institutions, unemployment, poor economy, and population displacements. Most of the widespread crises were linked to the youth, and this destructive behavior they exhibit is believed to be new as it did not exist during the Indonesian occupation ( McWilliam, 2020). Due to this new trend of youths and marginalization of certain groups, the SportsImpact developed a sport for life initiative in East Timor. The aim for such an undertaking by SportsImpact is engrained in its vision, “We use the power of sport to create a peaceful and developed world, with equal opportunities for everyone” (SportImapct n.d.).
One part of achieving this objective by SportImpact is through conducting events even at the sub – municipal level to ensure most of the young person are given a chance to engage. Among the strategies used by sport for life initiative is youth inclusion and empowerment at the municipal level as the first phase of implementation. With the partnership of UNESCO, SportImpact’s NGO designs an initiative to harness the power of youths to control their challenges through sports (Rashid, 2020). The relevant stakeholders use sports as the inclusion tool of underprivileged communities and provide the chance of human development even in most remote areas of Timor – Leste.
The second phase of implementation was to shift the social inclusion and empowerment at the sub- municipal level to raise chances of every youth participation. The graduates at municipal were trained to focus on the local ownership development and sustainability. At this level, they started workshops and sports were organized to include all the members of the community.
The other strategy used by the Sport for Life initiative was the inclusion of sport policies for social development and well-being. It was an action whereby UNESCO invited or instead encouraged the government to invest sufficiently in sports. It is was noted that investing in sports could even promote healthy lifestyles, and also associated with economic and social benefits. It is through these inclusive of sport policies which give rise to the sports education. The sport education was organized through having youths participating in diverse sports. Some of the concepts learned through sport education is breaking down of gender stereotypes, building cohesion and also driving the holistic youth towards participation in community life.
Peace
From the above case, East Timor has been filled with wars since several decades ago. According to the UN, the country has no peace because there is a lot of disturbance, political injustice and no prosperity for the individuals.
It is a fact that there was a division in the country since people embraced different languages, and institution structure was poor (Fitzpatrick & McWilliam, 2016). These groups were operating along tribal lines and diverse political ideologies, an aspect that intensified crises (Fitzpatrick, 2016). It is a scenario which needed intervention to make peace.
One of the ways of boosting peace is through sports. In 1913, Far Eastern Championship Games were launched and eventually improved cooperation and unity among China, Japan and the Philippines. These competitions made is possible for the Asian countries to gain independence from the rule of the empires (Beuman, 2016). In addition, the United Nation stresses that the empowering of individuals show a strong positive correlation with the improvement of peace. In 2018, SportImpact implemented a sport for life initiative in Carbo Verde. It promoted self-empowerment to the youth by focusing on sustainable development goals (Bailey, 2016).
In integrating sport within the context of peacebuilding efforts of In Timor – Leste, there was a certain program developed known as Many Hands One Nation (MAHON). It is the program which offers access to sports to Timor – Lestes youth. It is discovered that through the sport for the development of peace, youngsters from less fortunate communities have the chance of participating in sports (Schulenkorf, 2017). Through the action of doing so, they increase their resilience and self – confidence and also developing stronger social relations. The idea behind this program was aimed to combine the practice of sport integrating with peacebuilding efforts. For example, the beneficiaries in these programs are not subjected to physical practice alone. It is also a platform where individuals learn the important values of engaging in teamwork and cooperation. Though the theoretical and practical sessions inside and outside of the sporting pitch, the beneficiaries gain the required skills and values which can be replicated in the large society. In recent years, MAHON, the Sport for Development and peace program, has come up with the new sports. These new sports are inclusive of Athletics and Badminton for youths from remote areas of Timor – Leste. It is an approach which has helped a lot in strengthening leadership skills and communication among young people. Furthermore, it has aided in establishing new friendships and the creation of more inclusive communities that are embracing peace (Schulenkorf, 2017). Even though the wounds from the past for Timor – Leste is still fresh, the sport and other SDP programs have given rise to the new generation. It is a generation that is full of willingness and hopes to establish conditions of sustainable peace.
Due to these positive results, SportImpact enforced the sports for life initiative in East Timor in an attempt to foster peace. The approach of this program was made using the organization of the event, such as match football. During a football match, people could interact and create some degree of cohesion. Also, it was through these sports events that people were able to understand and also appreciate each other’s culture. The sport for life program includes vocational education and training during the sporting activities. For such a program to be effective, there is a need to have an interactive event which will bring different marginalized people together. It is a fact that lack of financial empowerment was among the causes of instability in East Timor. Therefore, having a program of vocational training and development would impart the people with required skills and become able to sustain themselves
As a result of having vocational education and training as an SDP program, a lot of positive social change and self-realization has occurred amongst the youths and the marginalized social groups (Bailey, 2016). Besides, it is through these programs that talents can be identified, and opportunities offered to them to further their careers. These marginalized groups were invested in them by the relevant authority as they became stable and assisted towards developing peace.
Apart from being imparted with technical skills, vocational education and training as an SDP program, people were taught about the importance of embracing peace. As the country has suffered political instability due to diverse political ideologies, this program was used to educate youths and marginalized groups, the consequences of instability primarily in the economy. If the SDP programs existed earlier enough in East Timor, it could have dealt with the issues of
crises which
could have also minimized the levels of poverty.
Positive Youth Development
On top of sports for life initiatives advocating peace, it is also linked with positive youth development (PYD). PYD is a strategy whereby knowledge and skills are instilled in the youth and help them build their strengths, transition into adulthood and realize their goals. This, therefore, means that sports is a useful intervention tool for the development of socially marginalized groups and the youth.
The current situation about Youth in Timor – Leste is that there is less opportunity for having employment opportunities. It is noted that even if the youth complete their studies or the skills training program, there is a high probability of unlikelihood of finding the jobs. The key factors which impend the growth of employment include; low productivity of the agricultural sector, negligence of the private sector; insufficient spending by the government to create job opportunities and also lack of adequate access to credit in both domestic and international markets (Agans et al., 2016). In 2006, the doing business report ranked this country as the second-worst across the globe while starting a business. It also records among the worst states of importing foreign labor to work as both low and the average skill laborer (Wigglesworth, 2017). It is noted that there is an existence of a vicious circle that presents a lack of work experience and high booking rage among youths as a hindrance to youths securing jobs. Indeed, the mixed reputation of Timorese labor has made employers sought internationals for skilled and semi-skilled positions.
One of the SDP programs used to address the issue of positive youth development was known as social inclusion, social protection and solidarity. In this program, the government officials organized on how vulnerable people could get empowered (Malti & Noam, 2016). For the children and aged people, the assistance was given direct without organizing an event. However, for the energetic young people, there was planning of events on how these people could be assisted. Obviously, it was through the use of sports whereby different youths could interact and talents identified. Upon talent identification, the youths could be allocated some resources and advice on how they empower themselves through sports.
In connection with some of the objectives of starting SportImpact organization, the first step was to empower the youth so that they can take charge of their lives. It was through the sports program held by SportImpact that trained them to become leaders. As the training continues, they gradually develop to be facilitators, leaders and managers (Kendellen, 2019). With these skills, they can secure jobs in various organizations and be capable of taking charge of their lives.
Since the current situation of youths in East Timor is wanting, the Sportimpact of Timor – Leste made efforts to use sport as the way of integrating the values that will lead to the positive social development of youths (McWilliam, 2020). The first value is empowerment, whereby youths from various communities are allowed to air their views. Through airing their opinions, the actions are taken to pursue the future they tend to choose and influence others in that area. The other value which should be embedded to the youths is sustainability. It is the scenario where an organization develops innovative solutions together with different business models to establish projects which are scalable, sustainable and replicable. Another value that needs to be imparted is that of collaboration whereby the organization, through sports events, brings multiple stakeholders together to collaborate openly to improve the value of the youths. Through this process of cooperation, youths are imparted with knowledge and given resources to create the same value, which is important for positive social change (Berman, Chaffee, S., & Sarmiento, 2018). Another aspect that should be imparted to these youths is integrity. The current youths in Timor – Leste are openly exposed to corruption, which is among the issues that have contributed to poverty. Therefore, there is a need for imparting integrity to these youth through having zero tolerance for questions concerning corruption. They also need to be taught about the dangers of abuse, discrimination and any other undesirable behaviors. All these processes and activities can only be achieved by organizing an event such as sport, which brings them together.
Conclusion
From the case study, it can be noted that sport impact organizations, in collaboration with UNESCO, developed some sport intervention programs to promote peace and positive social development. One of the programs which were used was having sports which brought the youths from marginalized communities together and. Through organizing events such as Sport, the individuals were taught values and also the importance of maintaining peace. It was also discovered that the youths were not empowered which was among reasons that led to crises. Therefore, to fight this challenge, there was a need of empowering them to help them take charge of their lives. It was through the sports and other SDP programs that the organization was able to carry out training to the youths. They were trained to become coaches, leaders and managers which was a way of empowering them. It was believed that the empowered youth would help in spreading peace while also putting the practice leant into practice to make their lives better. Through such program youths are encouraged to maintain peace and also act as the ambassadors of peace. Furthermore, it is only Sport that some talents are well identified and exploited. Besides, the sports act as an excellent platform for the people to interact, bond and even share the diverse culture. In sport impact organization, youths were taught all the values which contributed a lot towards the healing of the country though attaining peace and positive social development of youths. Therefore, it can be concluded that Sport was and still is an effective method to achieve peace and positive social change among youths and marginalized groups.
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