Dakar, 14 December 2023 - Sport is not just physical activity. Sport and Olympism play a key role in building safer communities and preventing violence and crime among young people. In a ground-breaking partnership, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have united to address youth crime prevention through the transformative power of sports.
Recognizing the profound impact sport can have on young lives, the IOC and UNODC aim to harness the universal appeal of sport to instill positive values, foster teamwork, deter involvement in criminal activities and drug use among the youth and prevent their victimization by criminal groups. Sport-based policy and programmes in the context of community-based interventions can play a critical role in empowering youth and community members to become active agents of positive change and support crime prevention efforts.
The “Sport against Crime: Outreach, Resilience, Empowerment of at-risk youth” (SC:ORE) project is a joint UNODC/IOC initiative to support the effective use of sport in preventing violence and crime and enhance the role of sport and the sport sector in building peaceful and safe communities.
In Senegal, the youth demographic plays a pivotal role in the socio-economic landscape. In 2022, 41% of Senegal’s total population were aged between 0 to 14 years and 55% were between 15 to 64 years.[1] However, like in many nations, young people in Senegal face multiple challenges that make them more vulnerable to violence and crime, both as victims and offenders. At the same time, by virtue of their age and learning abilities, young people are key agents of change in creating a better future and have great potential to advocate on behalf of themselves and their communities.
By fostering sports engagement, SC:ORE aims to complement and strengthen the national efforts for youth empowerment and participation. In particular, the initiative will help reach out to young people who are more vulnerable, including those who are in conflict with the law and are in higher risk of victimized and exploited by criminal groups.
The kick-off event of SC:ORE in Senegal on 14 December brought together the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Sport, Ministry of Youth, Ministry of Education, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), sports federations, the Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee and young athletes and leaders to discuss youth violence and crime prevention in Senegal and the contribution of sport. The meeting explored ways of joining forces to leverage the contribution of sport in Senegal for at-risk youth and communities and be the driving force for their empowerment and participation so that no one is left behind.
This collaborative initiative will leverage the global reach of the Olympic Movement and the expertise of UNODC in crime prevention strategies and the UN standards and norms in this area. By promoting sports as a tool for personal development and community building, the organizations aspire to create opportunities for at-risk youth, instill values and help positive youth development and wellbeing and create pathways and support networks, that can help them strive in life and enable their potentials as agents of change.
The partnership will include a series of targeted programs, community outreach initiatives and educational campaigns that emphasize the role of sports in building resilience, confidence, and social cohesion. Through these efforts, the IOC and UNODC intend to empower young people to make constructive life choices, ultimately contributing to safer and healthier communities worldwide.
The Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee’s General Secretary, Mr. Seydina Diagne, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating, "Sport has the power to unite and inspire, transcending borders and backgrounds. By joining forces with UNODC, we aim to channel this power to make a positive impact on the lives of young people, fostering a future free from crime." He also underlined the importance of the Olympic values and the opportunities that are created in the context of the Youth Olympic Games to engage and empower young people in Senegal and the broader region.
Mr. Amadou Ndiaye, Director of Supervised Education and Social Protection at the Senegalese Ministry of Justice, stressed the importance of prevention of juvenile delinquency and explained the national efforts on the development of strategies and mechanisms that “do not only prevent delinquency, but also care for children and at-risk young people aged 21 and under, as well as children under 18 in conflict with the law” with a focus on educational measures and specialized care services where sport is used for educational and recreational purposes.
Initiatives like sport can support and strengthen national efforts, build further capacity and leverage the use of sport for the prevention of juvenile delinquency and social reintegration of young offenders. Similarly, the Senegalese Ministry of Sport’s Ms. Marieme Kane Diallo, Director of Training and Cooperation, expressed enthusiasm for SC:ORE, stating, "sport can contribute to life change in young people through life skills training such as anger management, self-confidence, stress management and many others. That's why using sport as an effective tool to reach at-risk youth is essential. The Ministry of Sport works closely with the youth in those issues through sport programmes and it is looking to collaborating more on youth crime prevention through sport."
Mr. Kodjio Attisso of the UNODC Regional Office in Dakar stressed in his opening remarks that “prevention requires joint efforts and is not a sole responsibility of law enforcement. We all know that security and law enforcement responses alone do not work. Preventing youth crime requires innovative and inclusive approaches. Through the IOC-UNODC collaboration, we aspire to create a global movement that places young people in the centre, leveraging the values inherent in sports to steer young individuals towards a path of resilience, integrity, and community engagement."
The role of sport sector in the success of SC:ORE is key. Sport ambassadors Ms. Gnima Faye and Mr. Moussa Diedhiou both underlined the transformative power that sport can have in young people’s lives and the role of athletes and coaches as role models for the new generation.
"Sport has changed my life,” said Ms. Gnima Faye, Ambassadrice Sport au Féminin, Dakar Sacre-Coeur. “Without sport, I wouldn't be where I am today. After 13 years as a professional 100m hurdler in France, I decided to return home to share my experience and communicate the transformative power of sport to the youth in Senegal. I suffered sexual abuse and excision at a young age, and it made me vulnerable and isolated. My message today is that if sport has given meaning to my life, why not to others?”
“Sport is a powerful tool for peace and social cohesion,” said Mr. Moussa Diedhiou, IOC Young Leader who is promoting the Olympic values through his work in Senegal. “Sport has enabled me to strengthen ties between young people, but also to raise their awareness and make them more responsible.”
As the world grapples with complex social challenges, the IOC and UNODC stand united in their commitment to using the universal language of sport as a force for positive change to support the new generation to thrive and build safe, just and inclusive societies.
SC:ORE builds on the UNODC Youth Crime Prevention through Sport initiative, including the Line Up Live Up programme, as well as the IOC’s Olympic Education Values Programme (OVEP). The project contributes to the realization of strategic priorities set in the Olympism365 strategy and UNODC Strategy 2021-2025, aimed at strengthening the role of sport as enabler of sustainable development and placing the realization of the sustainable development goals and the welfare of people with local communities at the centre.
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