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| The IYF Country Team in Sudan celebrating the IDSDP 2018 - From Left to right: Ms. Summer Osman, Special Assistant to H.E. Amb. Saeed ZAKI, Ms. Azza Elamin, IYF Representative in Sudan, Ms. Ikhlas Mohammed, Youth Development Assistant, Ms. Sarah Elzein, Communications Assistant |
On April 6th, we celebrate the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, in collaboration with Peace and Sport organization, organized by the IYF Country Team in Sudan. This year, we are participating in the #WhiteCard campaign to show our commitment to peace efforts worldwide.
The campaign ‘White Card’ takes its name from Carton Blanc project, a highly acclaimed traveling photo exhibition by Maud Bernos, which highlights the faces of those who are at the very heart of Peace and Sport’s action and who are its tireless driving force: children. The photographer named her exhibition ‘Carton Blanc’ in reference to the red card, which signifies the most serious offense that a sports player can commit. Here, the non-color white, which symbolizes purity and peace, is therefore used to represent positivity and constructiveness in sports.
As the world takes forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must do everything to uphold sports values such as excellence, friendship, and respect. This is the spirit that inspires the International Youth Federation to make sure people’s right to sports is respected – with no discriminations. This same spirit inspires the work of volunteers across the world, dedicated to supporting sport for development and peace. It is their work that we recognize today.
Sport plays an important role in fostering peace, education, health, youth development, gender equality and the promotion of values of friendship, respect, and mutual understanding.
This day is celebrated by highlighting successful initiatives around the world during the past year, holding workshops and lectures to enhance the role of sport in peacebuilding and development. Sports activities and tournaments are held in various sports. April 6 was chosen as the International Day of Sport for Peace and Development, coinciding with the anniversary of the birth of the modern Olympic Games in Athens, in 1896
Sports activities have been increasingly recognized and used as a low-cost and high-impact tool in humanitarian, development and peace-building efforts. In grassroots projects throughout developing areas of the world, sports are used as a tool in short-term emergency humanitarian aid activities, in long-term development projects and social reintegration of children and youth affected by violence and war.