The development and sport worlds join forces for the “Sport for Development Coalition”

At this stage, this coalition includes the following permanent members: the Agence Française de Développement (AFD); the West African Development Bank (BOAD); the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); the Association of National and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) of the member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (ADFIMI); the Latin American Association of Development Finance Institutions (ALIDE); the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW);  and the Vnesheconombank VEB.RF).  It also includes partners from the world of sport and development who support this initiative: the International Olympic Committee (IOC);  the International Paralympic Committee (IPC); the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Paris 2024); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the German International Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ); and the European Academic Sports Network (ENAS).

To achieve this, the coalition relies on the communicating power of sport figures, particularly during major international sporting events, and on the financial resources of Public Development Banks, which account for 10% of global investments. With this coalition, the public development banks commit, through their investments and expertise, to promote sport and its value for creating positive social impacts.

The coalition members are convinced that sport is a powerful but still under-utilized lever for human and sustainable development and that it provides a framework for action in areas that are essential for achieving the SDGs:

• Education: Education through sport contributes to individual as well as collective development through a domino effect and allows people to learn to live in peace with other communities.
• Health: Sport helps prevent chronic diseases and promotes physical and mental well-being.
• Equality between men and women: sport contributes to the empowerment of girls and women and to the fight against gender stereotypes.
• Job skills and employment: Sport re-engages unemployed and excluded populations and helps develop and promote many job skills.
• Peace: By bringing nations together in international competitions, sport helps to strengthen tolerance and friendship among peoples.
• Ecological transition: sport promotes more sustainable lifestyles.

To achieve these goals, coalition members are committed to:

• aligning with a common vision and principles on the social and environmental power of sport.
• intensifying the positive human, social, economic and environmental impacts of the worlds of sport and development.
• supporting projects that make sport a tool for human and sustainable development at the national and regional levels.
• creating a positive social and environmental legacy and contribute to peace and solidarity, particularly through major international sporting events.

The coalition will establish a working group in the coming months to develop a roadmap to achieve these commitments. The coalition will meet at least once a year. The next meeting may take place for example in August in Tokyo on the occasion of the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will be a space for dialogue between partners in implementing the commitments for a sustainable world.

The Sport en Commun platform, the coalition’s first deliverable, will be an essential tool. The solutions and services offered by the platform, whose objective is to connect sport and development actors, will be the vehicle for carrying out these commitments.

Rémy Rioux (President  of the Finance in Common Summit, CEO of the AFD, Chair of IDFC): “I am delighted with this unprecedented coalition between the worlds of sport and development. It seals the rapprochement between these actors to carry, together, the hope of a common world under the banner of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To achieve this and demonstrate that sport is an excellent lever for development, the collective mobilization of Public Development Banks, meeting for the very first time today in the framework of the Finance in Common Summit, will be decisive. I look forward to seeing you in less than a year, on the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, where sport and development finance actors will make a first assessment of a collaboration that I am proud to kick off!.”

Tony Estanguet (President of Paris 2024) : “At Paris 2024, we are convinced that sport changes lives. It’s true for individuals, it’s also true for society because sport helps answer major challenges of our time: it brings solutions to improve health, education, equality and peace all around the world. We want to seize the opportunity of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games to strengthen the role of sport for sustainable development. This is the meaning of our collaboration with AFD. More sport, more impact!”

Shinichi Kitaoka (President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency – JICA): “Today, we applaud AFD’s efforts to foster collaboration. There is no question that sport can play an important role in promoting Human Security

Read here the letter of intent for the launch of a sport for development coalition of public development banks and partners.