Athletes compete, driving others to make change happen

Get caught up with key sport and development projects happening during this year’s Olympic Games.

The programmes and events leading up to the Olympics as well as the legacy left behind are important aspects of the Games. There are many organisations that launched their own sport and development programmes connected to the Games in hopes of bringing about positive social change. Here we provide some larger-scale examples.

BlazeSports’ ‘Sports for All’ project
Since 2014, BlazeSports and USAID have hosted training workshops and inclusive festivals promoting the integration of youth with and without disabilities. This has happened in several cities across Brazil as part of their Sports for All initiative. The workshops provided training to sport leaders on a number of themes such as integrative and inclusive physical activity, strategies for implementation of programmes and leadership training.

Find out more about the Sports for All Project

Rio 2016 Inspiration Programme
Social Starters launched their Sport Inspiration Programme to learn more about how sport is being used for development in Rio de Janeiro. Over 18 days, participants visited programmes and attended workshops in social entrepreneurship, ideation, problem solving and a ’how to’ for starting a project. Finally, they developed ideas for bringing about social change in their own communities.

Find out more about the Social Starters Sport Inspiration Programme

Street Child Congress 2016
In March 2016, Terre des Hommes, Street Child United and Dreikönigsaktion (DKA) hosted the Street Child Congress in Rio to highlight the vulnerability of children during mega-events. Street children shared their experiences and played Olympic sports. The outcome included an open letter to the IOC and recommendations expressed by the children were included in the Rio Resolution.

Find out more about the Street Child Congress 2016

One Win Leads to Another event at the 2016 Rio Olympics
UN Women, the IOC and Always (#LikeAGirl) celebrated women’s and girls’ empowerment. Talks were given about issues girls face during adolescence. The One Win Leads to Another programme aims to reach 2,500 girls aged 10-18 years and 300 out-of-school mothers in Rio in one year. A sustainable and scalable model of the programme is being devised for replication throughout Latin America.

Visit the One Win Leads to Another event website

Olympic Legacy Programme
The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games go well beyond sports. The event will leave a legacy, not just for Rio de Janeiro, but all of Brazil, covering a variety of areas, including education, culture and sustainability. There is also a great deal of effort being undertaken to reduce the carbon footprint of the event.