UNOSDP Youth Leadership Camp in Bradenton, Florida, USA

Mr. Wilfried Lemke, the special adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, launched the Youth Leadership Programme in 2012 with the aim of empowering young people from around the world.

The Youth Leadership Programme (YLP) recognises the potential that youth have to invoke change in their community especially in the field of sport for development and peace (SDP).

By providing opportunities for youth to develop and exercise their leadership skills, this programme not only contributes to their personal development, it can further strengthen a community’s capacity to build on its strengths and respond to pressing community needs.

Outcomes and objectives of YLP

Utilising the power of sport and play the YLP will help youth gain practical leadership skills to inspire and invoke change. Youth will create this change by:

• Enhancing the quality of SDP programmes in their organisation
• Increasing the number of organisations in the community that are aware of how sport and play can contribute to development and peace
• Increasing the number of people in the community that are participating in SDP

To help youth promote this change, YLP encourages youth to:

• Reflect on their own perspective and approaches to development
• Explore different strategies of using sport as a tool to inspire change in a variety of development areas
• Identify and problem-solve barriers to implementing SDP programmes in their communities
• Share strategies, approaches and best practices in sport for development and peace
• Learn to advocate for sport for development and peace
• Create standards to guide the development and implementation SDP programmes

Using participatory facilitation techniques the programme favors an experiential approach to learning. This methodology gives youth a chance to reflect on the lesson at hand, to connect their learning to real-life situations, and to apply their knowledge to their communities. Youth will not only be active participants in their own development but they will also support the growth and development of youth from other countries. Through numerous partner organisation presentations, leadership tasks, play-based activities and group discussions, youth will learn to maximize the transformative power of sport and play.

Participants

Participants of the YLP will be between 18-25 years old, come from underserved communities around the world and work or volunteer for local sport for development projects. By October 2015, the programme has had over 500 alumni representing 69 countries.

For all inquiries contact [email protected]

• Visit the UNOSDP website for more information