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UK Sport and Comic Relief Join Forces in International Development

UK Sport and Comic Relief are working together on the three-year project
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Mairi Irvine 22 May 2007

UK Sport has partnered with Comic Relief in an innovative project to build a body of evidence about the role sport can play in improving the lives of disadvantaged communities internationally.

The half a million pound project will be conducted through UK Sport’s Charitable arm, International Development through Sport (IDS), who, at each stage of the research, will work directly with grassroots projects; half of which have been funded by UK Sport and half funded through Comic Relief’s Sport Relief campaign. The project will last three years and will focus on ten organisations working across eight countries.

Pippa Lloyd, UK Sport’s International Development Consultant said: “We are delighted that Comic Relief has entered into this strategic partnership with UK Sport to undertake this research.

“This initiative is one of the largest and most in-depth of its kind in the world, the results of which will be used to develop a portfolio of good practice around the use of sport in development. This knowledge will be shared with development organisations, sporting bodies and governments to shape programmes that will bring tangible benefits to disadvantaged young people and their communities.”

Richard Graham, Head of International Programmes, Comic Relief, said: “What makes this initiative so exciting is that it brings together community organisations and experts in sport to find out exactly how and why sport can make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged young people.

Professor Fred Coalter, an expert in the field of monitoring and evaluation from the University of Stirling will help the participating organisations develop tools to measure and asses the impact of sport in their programmes.

One of the organisations taking part in the initiative is The Kids League, a Ugandan NGO that already uses sport as a tool to bring diverse communities together to promote health, education and life skills with key target groups such as ex child soldiers, orphans and street children.

Ann Dudley, Secretary of The Kids League, said:

“Working with young people in a civil conflict zone, in environments unsanctioned by many visiting organisations, gaining access to a listening ear for the children can seem an impossible task.

“This research initiative gives us a unique opportunity to add to the growing body of knowledge surrounding the role of sport in a development context.”

Partner organisations involved include:

Concern Universial / Chisomo Children's Club – Malawi
Chisomo works with children and their families in order to bring long term change through relationship building, family and community reintegration, education and vocational skills, health and HIV/AIDS and promotion of child rights and advocacy.
SCIAF / Kamwokya Christian Caring Community – Uganda
Kamwokya Christian Caring Community is a Catholic founded Community Based organization that aims to improve the quality of life for the people in Kamwokya by promoting community cohesiveness and access to education, training and employment and providing direct community services to the most disadvantaged especially people with HIV/AIDS and orphans.
CAFOD / Don Bosco Homes – Liberia
Don Bosco has been operating in Liberia since 1992 and is focused on supporting children in conflict, particularly skills training, family tracing, reintegration of former child combatants, juvenile rehabilitation programme as well as disadvantaged girls.
Y-Care - YMCA Senegal - Senegal
Founded in 1996 YMCA Senegal seeks to build the capacity and resilience of youth through integrated youth programs addressing adolescent reproductive health, education and participation.
Magic Bus – India
Magic Bus works with children from the slums of Mumbai using sport to give them the chance to build their self-confidence, work in a team, develop communication skills, learn about health and hygiene and most importantly encourage girls and boys to play together, breaking down gender barriers and influencing community development.
The Kids League – Uganda
The Kids League (TKL) is a Non profit NGO registered in Uganda. The aims of the organisation are to help boys and girls aged 8-15 in Uganda, primarily in the country's northern conflict zones, improve their lives using sport as a means to create education, health and life skills awareness.
SCORE – South Africa and Namibia
SCORE is a South African non-profit, non-government, community development organisation that uses sport and physical activity as a powerful medium to bring about sustainable development and empowerment, and build international and intercultural understanding.
VSO - South Africa
VSO SA’s Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC) Programme started April 2005 and will run to March 2009. The Programme is one of the 3 interrelated programme areas on HIV&AIDS that VSO is working on in the country with the objective of imrpoving lifeskills, HIV&AIDS awareness/education and the health of orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa through sport.
EMIMA – Tanzania
EMIMA is a volunteer youth sport and community service organization based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The aim of the organization is to promote sport participation among youths to enhance youth development, build community capacity and educate about HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Praajak / Railway Children – India
As a social development agency, Praajak works with marginalized children and adolescents. Committed to the rights of the child, its ultimate aim is to create a gender-just environment of care and protection around these children so that they grow up as more responsible, productive and law-abiding citizens.