Breakout Session “Save the Dream: Sports for Peace, Sustainable and Inclusive Development”

The main objective of the session was to raise awareness about the role of sport in intercultural dialogue and to develop the untapped potential of sport for promoting sustainability and inclusiveness.

 Through their experiences, people from different cultural, social, and religious backgrounds explained how they use sport to empower youth and actively contribute to sustainable and inclusive development. The participants explored how sportmen, athletes, and sport organisations contribute to social inclusion and development through sports, but also how novices found in sport the best tool for education, empowerment and reconciliation. The session also offered concrete opportunities for cooperation on sport related activities amongst the participants of the 7th Global Forum of UNAOC.

The session was moderated by Evelyn Watta, Journalist, AIPS.

Key questions raised at the session were How can sport be of support to migrants and refugees?; What are the good examples of such experiences? Would it be possible to share good practices on how sport served as a tool for social inclusion and development?; How can we promote the values and dreams imparted by sport to counter the narratives of hatred and mistrust?; How to transfer the values of respect, ethics and social responsibility vehicled by sport to other social activities?

Speakers included Elkhan Mammadov, General Secretary of the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA), Christian Karembeu, International Footballer, Honey Thaljieh, co-founder of women’s football in Palestine and the first captain of the Palestinian national team, Ossamah Al Abed Almohsen, Football Coach, Nelsa Curbelo Cora, Municipality of Guayaquil, Ecuador.

/By Azertac/