Laureus Sport for Good Summit 2016
• Six goals for the future: Health, Education, Women and Girls, Employability, Inclusive Society and Peaceful Society
• Over 100 Sport for Development programmes funded by Laureus Sport for Good express their joint commitment to harness the power of sport to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals at Summit in Germany
• Images at www.laureusarchive.com
SINSHEIM/HEIDELBERG, October 12, 2016 – Over 100 leading Sport for Development organisations from around the world have set out their commitment to use sport as a tool to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals at the 2016 Laureus Sport for Good Summit in Germany.
Soon after the announcement of the Sustainable Development Goals, Laureus Sport for Good refocused its vision and mission around six key areas covered within the 17 Goals:
• Health: Enhancing mental wellbeing and encouraging healthy behaviour change
• Education: Supporting quality of and access to education
• Women and Girls: Promoting equality, empowerment and safety
• Employability: Increasing employability and creating pathways to employment
• Inclusive Society: Creating communities which embrace ethnic, cultural and physical differences
• Peaceful Society: Resolving conflict, promoting community peace-building and creating safe spaces
The Sport for Good Summit brought together leaders from Laureus-supported projects in around 30 countries, across all the continents. Laureus urged all programmes in the Sport for Good movement to align their aims with the Sustainable Development Goals. The aim of the three-day Summit is to give sport for development organisations an opportunity to share knowledge and learning to promote high quality sport programmes which change the lives of children and young people around the world.
As well as learning and developing as leaders, the delegates attending the Summit also had the chance to build relationships with Laureus Academy Members Sean Fitzpatrick and Hugo Porta, and USA’s 2016 Olympic gold medal-winning basketball star, Laureus Ambassador Tamika Catchings. The sporting legends offered their own personal experiences of the power of sport, joined breakout sessions and inspired the project leaders to continue their life-changing work.
The Summit took place in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region thanks to the support of the Dietmar Hopp Stiftung (Foundation).
Quotes:
Sean Fitzpatrick, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy: “The UN’s recognition of sport in its development agenda was a huge moment for us. Over recent weeks and months we have reviewed our vision for Laureus Sport for Good and re-aligned our mission to make an impactful contribution to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
“We are hugely proud of the work done by Laureus-supported projects. Hearing the motivation and inspiration of the project leaders here in Germany shows that we are in a great position to continue using sport to improve the lives of young people around the world.”
Andy Griffiths, Global Director at Laureus Sport for Good: “Our aim with the 2016 Laureus Sport for Good Summit has been to encourage the sport for development movement to align and increase its efforts to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The Sustainable Development Goals have set the world’s agenda for tackling serious social issues and we passionately believe in the power of sport to enable children and young people to overcome violence, discrimination and disadvantage in their lives.”
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