A new social movement: Sport for development and peace

In recent years, national and international sports organizations, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), universities and schools have conducted programmes in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the disadvantaged communities of the First World to assist sports development (e.g. Olympic Solidarity), humanitarian relief (e.g. Right to Play), post-war reconciliation (e.g. Playing for Peace), and broad social development (e.g. Kicking AIDS Out). These initiatives, linked under the banner of 'Sport for Development and Peace' (SDP), have been prompted by athlete activism and an idealist response to the fall of apartheid, and enabled by the openings created by the end of the Cold War, the neo-liberal emphasis upon entrepreneurship and the mass mobilizations to 'Make Poverty History'. A major focus of policy development has been the United Nations, the SDP International Working Group, and the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport. This essay sketches out the landscape of this new movement, critiques the problems and considers the prospects.