The use of sport as a tool in addressing challenges in areas such as health, crime prevention, education, conflict resolution, gender equity etc has over the years gathered more importance and momentum in the international arena of social development.
In Africa, NGO’s such as ORPED Sports Ghana, Right to Play, Alive & Kicking, Play Soccer, MYSA, Anopa and many others have fully embraced this concept of Sports for Development (SfD) and run programs that provide thousands of children and young people with valuable tools and skills that make a difference in their individual lives and communities.
However, most of these programs are funded by development agencies such as the UN, Commonwealth, European Union, GIZ etc. In 2005, FIFA launched the Football for Hope movement which provided support to 93 NGO’s. The official campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was ‘20 Centres for 2010’, this saw twenty (20) Football for Hope Centres built to promote public health, education and football in disadvantaged communities all in Africa.
The question that readily comes to mind is – What are we, as Africans doing for ourselves? What is Africa’s Football governing Body CAF doing in this regard? Has it got a SfD Policy?
These questions are very important especially in the midst of all the controversies surrounding the staging of AFCON 2015 because of the outbreak of Ebola in some West Africa countries. It is time for African countries to fully maximize the use of sports as a tool to nurture its young people and improve the health of its entire population and even rebrand itself in the comity of nations.
Numerous examples abound of countries that have successfully harnessed the power of sports to develop its youth and entertain its entire population. America, Canada, and the United Kingdom have used this concept to build confidence in their youth and positioned them to be competitive not only in sport but in other fields such as science, politics, international affairs. Africa should not be an exception!
East and Southern Africa in relative terms are far ahead of West Africa as far as SfD is concerned. Events and Knowledge sharing is rife there than in West Africa. In Ghana many organizations are engaged in SfD activities, but there is the need to foster collaboration and partnership to maximize its full potential and enhance its benefits. Ghana with its unique character and brand in democracy, peace and sports should be able to lead the charge in the SfD movement in West Africa.
It is in this regard that ORPED Sports Ghana, a Ghanaian NGO established under the laws of Ghana to specifically promote Sports for Development in Ghana, West Africa and Africa, in partnership with Right to Play Ghana (RTP) and Sports for Social Change Network – Ghana (SSCN-Ghana) initiates the “Sports for Development series of Dialogues” to stimulate quality debate in the field of SfD in Ghana, West Africa and Africa and set a unique platform for research work in SfD to be critiqued.
The topic for this first edition will be – AFCON 2015 - Its Relevance to Sports for Social Change in Africa!
ORPED Sports Ghana and its partners Right to Play Ghana and the Sports for Social Change Network-Ghana (SSCN-Ghana) are motivated to commence this ‘SfD series of Dialogues’ with the view that the discussions will create the necessary awareness and better understanding of the SfD concept.
The first of those series comes off at the Right to Play Ghana office at East Legon, Accra on Wednesday, December, 10, 2014.