International Sport Development

UK Sport works with partners to provide access to sport for young people in developing countries.

UK Sport has been involved in International Sport Development for the last seventeen years and has worked in over 18 different countries, mainly within Southern Africa.  At the heart of this development work has been the belief that the UK should play a role in increasing opportunities for young people in developing countries to participate in sport.  The UK Sport values of working together, openness and integrity and commitment to excellence underpin all of our international development work.

UK Sport has worked in partnership to strengthen sports systems within developing countries working with Ministries, Sports Federations and Non-Governmental Organisations with a focus of advocating the role sport can play in developing countries, policy development, capacity building through coach and sport leader education as well as working to strengthen community based sport. This work has contributed through public diplomacy towards an increase in the influence of and international good will towards the UK.

Sport also has a role to play in helping to address wider social issues encompassed by the millennium development goals.  It can contribute towards addressing gender inequality and assists with the development of life skills such as leadership, decision making, organisational and management skills.  Sport can also act as an effective medium for conveying educational messages relating to health issues such HIV/AIDS awareness and malaria.  UK Sport has actively sought to address the gaps within monitoring and evaluation and contribute towards collating research evidence to enable us to build the case for sport.

Commitment to Excellence: Supporting International Sport Development

UK Sport works in partnership with organisations and agencies across the world to assist with the development of sporting systems, promote the power of sport as a tool for human and social development, form and maintain strategic partnerships with international partners, and ensure the UK is kept abreast of sporting development worldwide.  

International Development programme

Though our International Development Programme we aim to develop a small number of long-term (3-5 year) strategic partners at any one time, with UK based and International NGOs to further the use of sport as a tool for human and social development, primarily in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.  These partnerships will are based around the following development area outcomes, which relate the programmes priority themes:

• Coach education, training and deployment 
• Youth development and leadership 
• Organisational capacity building 
• Disability sport
• Advocacy and awareness raising

We aim for these partnerships to be powerful exemplars of global partnership; equity will be a core criterion in all alliance agreements, and HIV and AIDS training and education will be addressed in all four themes.

In addition, research, monitoring and evaluation will underpin all programmes to help provide the evidence base for sport for development that is so sorely needed.

Our geographic focus for these partnerships remains in Sub-Saharan Africa because of our historic ties to the area and the Africa-specific expertise we have developed over the fifteen years we have worked in the field.

UK Sport will work with key partners to ensure the sustainability of these projects through capacity building, effective partnerships in country and dissemination of knowledge and influence through their key networks. The shift towards strategic partnerships, and away from the ad hoc support of local projects, allows UK Sport to best utilise resources and focus our efforts as a facilitator and awareness raising body.

Restricting the number of partnerships allows us to carefully choose our partners, whose objectives, understanding of sport for development and passion can best match our own. Working with them through strategic plans, over a longer period allows us to achieve tangible results, properly conducted and evaluated, in parts of Africa which require systematic and sustainable change.

International sport development

This strand focuses on partnership work with supranational and national sports organisations to help foster closer relationships with the international sporting community and to ensure we maintain a strategic focus on sports development. To this end the majority of this week involves partnering with sports governing bodies and organisations to advance joined up work.

This strand includes the following three key areas of partnership work:

• Partnerships with International Sports Federations and UK National Governing Bodies
• Partnerships with southern Sports Federations and National Sports Bodies
• Three way partnerships between UK Sport, a southern community and a UK Higher Education Institute, to develop sports through fostering leadership via the IDEALS programme  

international development through sport (IDS UK)

International Development through Sport (IDS) is an independent UK registered charity, which harnesses the power of sport to transform the lives of some of the poorest children and young people in the world by giving them the chance to play sport, develop their skills and confidence and live healthier, happier and safer lives.

International research and conferences

This strand underpins UK Sport’s work on sport development by building up a credible evidence base for the use of sport as a tool for human and social development, raising awareness, and sharing best practice. It works through the following methods:

• Examining best practice in developing countries 
• Conference and Workshop hosting including key sport for development conferences including The Commonwealth Sports Development Conference and The Next Step Conference

Commonwealth Sports Development Conference

The Commonwealth Sports Development Conference, aimed at policy makers and sports practitioners of all levels, is held every two years and focuses on how sport and development initiatives can raise levels of grass-roots participation and create pathways to excellence both in the UK and the developing world. The 2008 conference held in Glasgow featured Mike Fennell, President of the CGF, Sue Campbell (UK Sport), Stefan Howells, International Chief Executive SCORE (South Africa) and Miriam Moyo, President, National Olympic Committee of Zambia amongst a host of world class speakers. Further information about upcoming Commonwealth Sports Development Conferences will be posted in the News and Events section.

Next Step Conference

The power of sport to inspire and involve young people has long been well understood within the international sport development community and, when held every second year, the Next Step Conference aims to harness and develop this understanding. First held in Amsterdam in 2003 the main goals of the conference are to demonstrate and exchange knowledge on the use of sport as a vehicle in reaching the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in the fields of health, peace and reconciliation, and to exchange knowledge and experience in strengthening local community sports structures, and translate them into practical, sustainable instruments.

UK Sport in partnership with SCSA Zone VI hosted the 2007 conference with the aim of giving sports leaders from across the world a platform to voice and celebrate their achievements in and through sport. Held in Windhoek, Namibia the conference attracted over 400 delegates who witnessed His Excellency Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Nambia open proceedings which focused on highlighting the value of educating and developing young people through sport.

This powerful legacy will continue when SCORE host The 2009 Next Step Conference in South Africa.

www.nextstep2007.org