Tackling discrimination through sport and play programmes

moderated the workshop “After a sports programme, what social integration is there for young people?” during the 3rd International Forum on Peace and Sport. The director of Sport sans Frontières shares her views about how sports programmes should contribute to the social integration of youth.

How can sport programmes contribute to the social integration of marginalized groups?

Integration is intrinsically related to the presence of exclusion mechanisms in a given society: discrimination based on origin, ethnicity, or gender tend to exclude specific populations within a society.

Sport can be a good way for these marginalised groups to regain confidence by taking part in joint physical activities: these people will have the possibility to interact, share their difficulties and develop concrete solutions in a structured framework.

Do you reckon sports interventions are appropriate to tackle all types of discrimination mechanisms?

Providing sport and play activities is not an end in itself: rather, we believe these activities have the potential to provide youth with key values, aptitudes and skills useful well beyond the sports field. Structured sport and play activities enable youth to develop these competencies in a playful environment.

Furthermore, taking part in these activities can be extremely valuable for these children: it often leads to a growing recognition within their community, and they also realise they have acquired important life skills through these programmes. Sport and play activities thus act on the community and on the individual level.