For diplomacy

Contribution:

3 big milestones of Sport Diplomacy:

• The Olympic Truce or “Eikecheria”: It permitted to ensure the safe travel of athletes and spectators to the Ancient Games during times of war. Over 2000 years after, it has a clear mandate in inspiring countries to set aside their differences and come together in the spirit of international cooperation.
• Ping Pong Diplomacy during the Cold War: In 1971, the U.S. team played against the Chinese team and later, in 1972, the United States issued a reciprocal invitation to the Chinese. “The little ball changed the big ball.”
• Rugby a tool to tackle down the apartheid: There is an iconic photo at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Nelson Mandela and the blond team captain François Pienaar, shook hands, creating a symbol of reconciliation and racial unity.
• Korean peninsula: During the 2018 Winter Olympics, we saw a joint North and South Korea delegation.  They also announced that they intended on launching a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics. 

Sport for All potential in diplomacy objectives:

• Offers a new type of relationship between countries: Sport can bring together confronted leaders in a sort of neutral and fertile arena
• Capacity to export successful practices to other regions, e.g., a badminton event to raise awareness on refugee integration can be used both in Uganda, Syria or Colombia
• Improves perceptions of a country in conflict by giving visibility to it
• International campaigns, forums and Sport events are tools to promote Sport values and specific agendas (109)
•  Allows policymakers and international agencies to create stronger ties between people and tackle issues like xenophobia, racism, gender-based violence, among others

International endorsement

European Commission’s White Paper on Sport
Stresses that “the societal role of Sport also has the potential to strengthen the Union’s external relations and that Sport may be a tool for development policy”.

United Nation’s SDG No. 17
17.2 Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments
17.17 Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

EU High-level group report on Sport diplomacy
The EU must build up credibility as an actor in global Sport. It has the potential to do so precisely because it is not a nation-state pursuing interests of national prestige Click Here

• Lack of knowledge (unqualified personnel) to adapt Sport disciplines for development purposes.
• Still scarce awareness of S4D due to the lack of measurement and evaluation.

The role of policymakers government officials
Foreign policymakers and thinkers should use Sport as a policy tool to increase international presence, social and economic ties.

Collaborative efforts: Involve representatives from other sectors in Sport for All initiatives
Modern diplomacy goes beyond governmental cooperation to involve other relevant stakeholders in cross-sector partnerships. Building networks, local, regional and international, is another mechanism to foster diplomacy and increase the scope of Sport for All. Examples of this include TAFISA, Fight for Peace, ISCA, Fare Network.

Mentoring and transfer of diplomacy capacities
Training camps addressed to youths, direct mentoring of decision-makers to youths and community leaders are necessary to ensure there is sufficient awareness and capabilities to pursue changes through diplomacy.

Define roles for clubs, ISOs, and other Sport for All organisations (110)

• Identify potential target groups and challenging social tensions that can exist at the local level
• Develop and implement Sport cost-effective interventions.
• Share expertise, tools and good practices in Sport for All Sport Diplomacy to foster the transfer of knowledge between stakeholders at local, regional, national and international levels.
• Raise awareness of and advocate for the positive physical and mental health benefits of Sport for All.

Other tips:
Check AB Advocacy Events to get additional recommendations to start conversations with decision-makers and involving them in strategic events.

• Grassroots Sport Diplomacy. Click Here  (background) Click Here (Resources)
• US Sport Diplomacy: Envoys and Sport Visitors programme. Click Here
• Australia Sport for Diplomacy 2030 plan
• Mandela 1995 Rugby: Click Here
• Sport diplomacy
•  Identifying good practices: a final report to the European Commission Click Here

Australia Sport for Diplomacy 2030 plan
(Australian Government)

•  This strategy works to bring the Government’s first national Sport plan, Sport 2030, to an
• international stage. Australia recognises the power of Sport to bring people and nations together.
• In 2015, when Australia released its first Sport diplomacy strategy, we were a pioneer in the field.
• Sport Diplomacy 2030 is the second Australian Sport diplomacy strategy, building on the success
• of the first strategy.

More information:
Complete plan.  Click Here