Understanding the sport for development sector in South and South East Asia

Pro Sport Development, in collaboration with Participatory Research in Asia, have published the final report of their research study to understand the scope of sport for development as part of the development agenda in different countries across South and South East Asia.

Pro Sport Development (PSD), in collaboration with Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) initiated a research study in February 2020 to understand the scope of sport for development (S4D) as part of the development agenda in different countries across South and South East Asia (S & SE Asia). The objectives of the study were to:

Learn in greater depth about the current S4D initiatives in different countries across the regions and gauge their impact
Identify key gaps and challenges that S4D programs and organizations face in the regions
Provide a set of recommendations to stakeholders in the S4D sector in the regions to guide future strategies

The scoping study gathered primary data from a variety of sources in the regions, amplifying the voice of key local stakeholders. The study mapped a total of 138 stakeholders across 17 countries in S & SE Asia, before focusing in-depth on 105 of these stakeholders from seven countries in the regions.

Various data collection tools were developed in order to gain the perspective of these stakeholders, including organizational surveys as well as interview guides for key informant interviews and focus group discussions. A total of 27 survey responses were collected, which were then further informed by 14 in-depth key informant interviews and 3 focus group discussions.

The key findings that emerged from the study outlined a number of important aspects of S4D programming in S & SE Asia. The findings revealed the major focus areas of S4D organizations in the regions, with the most prominent themes being gender equality and youth development, followed by access to education, promoting social inclusion and enabling good health & well-being. Youth development is clearly a vital area of focus for many S4D organizations in the regions, with the study revealing several S4D initiatives focusing on the teaching of life skills, sporting values, enabling access to education and promoting gender equality among young people.

Moreover, the study revealed several gaps and challenges within the S4D landscape in S & SE Asia, including a scarcity of funds, lack of qualified trainers, lack of space in urban areas to implement programs and the struggle to engage participants on a long-term basis. The study also identified a number of successful strategies and operational models that have been utilized by S4D organizations in S & SE Asia, popular sports used in S4D programming, future strategies to grow the sector as well as the impact of COVID-19 on the sector in the regions.

Based on the rich data collected and analyzed, the study provides a set of practical recommendations and measures for future engagement and growth of the S4D sector in S & SE Asia. These include greater advocacy efforts for S4D at all levels (local, national and international) of operations, including furthering the S4D agenda within communities as well as among funders and policy makers across the country and/or region of operation.

The recommendations also look at ways in which organizations can access better funding avenues and create alternative revenue streams to sustain and grow their programs. Additionally, as part of the recommendations, PSD provides insights into practical measures to develop versatile and sustainable S4D programs and strategies for S4D organizations to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic in the short, medium and long term.