Sport and Peace Conference Discusses Future Development of Sport

With sport being considered a powerful tool to promote and unite people from all social classes, cultures and backgrounds, and to support people who wish to excel in a positive way, the 3^rd Cape Town International Sport and Peace Conference and Expo themed ‘The Power of a Dream’ took place from 14 to 16 September 2016 at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

The event, hosted by the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS), the Foundation for Sport, Development and Peace, the Department of Sport and Recreation (SRSA), Nedbank and various other role players, has as its main aim the bringing together of different stakeholders to discuss how sport can be used as a vehicle to build peaceful communities. It also aims at networking on a global basis in order to empower young people, leading the world towards greater unity and harmony.

The conference was comprised of three days of exciting activities. The first day consisted of Training and Capacity Building, which saw international trainers offering Youth Leadership and Olympic Values workshops. The second day was an expo where various organisations had the opportunity to showcase their work on sport, peace and community development. On the third and final day the conference came to a conclusion with various speakers and presentations, panel discussions and group commissions, which included discussions on Olympic Value and Education; Health and Wellness; Community, Safety, Sport and Peace; and Community Development and Partnerships.

DCAS Head of Department Brent Walters delivered a warm and powerful speech in which he highlighted how sport is a basis for unity: “We really are thrilled to partner with the Foundation for Sport, Development and Peace to promote education and peace through sport and lead the world to a greater unity and harmony. The world is a divided place – it needs unifiers and connectors, things that can bring us together,” he said. “In the world today, a lot of differences are highlighted between people, and you are looking for those things that can actually unify and connect people. Sport is a great equaliser in this, because sport does not delineate between what you believe, what religion you follow, what colour you are, or when you get on the field to play.”

Minister Anroux Marais told the audience how it pleases her to see that individuals’ circumstances improve through participation, developing and excelling in their preferred sporting codes and how that inadvertently has an effect on the lives of those individuals’ families, communities, provinces and countries. “We all have to partner together to incorporate a culture of sporting participation, develop excellence and create an enabling environment for our youth as an alternate to the antisocial activities dominating our communities,” she said. “It is pivotal for us, regardless of political affiliation or differing cultural backgrounds, to increase trust, social inclusion, quality education and confidence in government so as to contribute to peace, the wellbeing and enrichment of our communities. Together through sport we can redress the challenges our communities are plagued with.”

Let us join hands with agents of change to create a world that is taken over by sport, peace and human potential, BETTER TOGETHER.