Article 37 - Dr. Gilles Klein

Article 37

  

Dr. Gilles Klein, 02 October 2017

 

SDP

Lausanne. 5 October 2017. Palais de Beaulieu. The Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva is organizing the seminar: "Achieving SDGs through Sport: Partnerships and Institutional Responsibility for greater coherence and effectiveness". Organizations in the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector are invited to share their views on how sport can support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to consider enhanced cooperation. In the framework of five (5) panels, representatives of governmental, intergovernmental, non-governmental organizations and major corporations will take stock of their policies and identify prospects by 2030.

Objectives

The organizers have set four objectives:

Increased coherence, convergence and efficiency of actions; 
Increased awareness from key stakeholders of their activities and where the United Nations System, the IFs, the IOC, and non-traditional actors stand with regard to SDGs and Sport; 
Availability of resources and practical tools and information to increase chances of possible partnerships; 
Networking between the United Nations System and the IFs and other relevant actors. 

Transform

As an introduction to the work, the UN representative in Geneva will review the 2030 Sustainable Development Program adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 25, 2015. This program is included in the document "Transforming Our World: the Sustainable Development Program to 2030 ". Following the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the 2030 program is a universal vow, aiming to leave no one behind. It is also ambitious in wanting to transform the world in which we live.

Article 37

After the MDGs era, a new framework is thus defined for the period 2015-2030, which sets 17 SDGs in 169 targets and 230 indicators in the fields of economy, social development and environmental protection. Article 37 of Program 2030 promotes sport as an important factor in sustainable development by recognizing its growing contribution to the realization of development and peace. During the five (5) thematic panels, the international sports organizations will present their arguments on their contribution to this article 37 and the transformation of the world through sport.

Olympism

The first panel is dedicated to the sustainability strategy of the Olympic Movement. This strategy identifies 11 ODDs, especially for the world of Olympism. The experts of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA), World Sailing, the International Union of Mountaineering Associations (UIAA) and World Taekwondo will present the key elements of their strategy, an overview of the sustainability programs defined by international federations, and an understanding of how the Olympic movement can contribute to achieving the MDGs.

United Nations

The second panel is dedicated to the implementation of strategies through partnerships and programs by United Nations agencies (United Nations Development Program - UNDP, United Nations Children's Fund - UNICEF, United Nations Environment Program - UNEP, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO). The representatives will present the strategies of the UN agencies and the main key activities aimed at achieving the UN SDGs through sport. They will discuss the achievements of the policies and programs of sustainable development of the United Nations agencies, as well as the issues and problems encountered. They will identify opportunities and develop recommendations for more effective and meaningful collaboration within UN agencies, as well as with other actors.

Stakeholders

The third panel will focus on institutional responses to the achievement of SDGs by and in sport, through a number of stakeholder initiatives (Institute for Human Rights and Business - IHRB, Swiss Academy for Development, World Sports Alliance - WSA, Sponsorize, Women@theTable). Representatives will introduce NGOs and companies interested in sport strategies to achieve the UN SDGs through sport. They will discuss the achievements of the policies and programs of sustainable development of NGOs and companies, as well as the issues and problems encountered. They will identify opportunities and develop recommendations for more effective and meaningful collaboration between NGOs, businesses with other actors (including sports and public institutions).

Economy

The fourth panel will address the theme of economic and social integration of sustainable sport partnerships. Representatives of the Council of Europe,International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will focus on the question of the impact of the implementation of the SDGs on the world of sport. Together with the University of Geneva - UNIGE, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR, the Futbol Club Barcelona Foundation - FCBF, and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the fifth panel will consider the implementation of policies and cooperation with the Through public and private partnerships (PPPs).

Universality

In Lausanne, in the third panel, I will represent our intergovernmental organization, the World Sports Alliance, which comprises thirty three Member States, is linked to the United Nations system while remaining politically autonomous. I will carry the following message. Since 2007, we have been mandated by international civil society to educate youth and train their staff to the MDGs through sport. From the beginning, we have considered that the universal is as much one of the global objectives rather than just the result of shared situations and we wanted to take action to reduce the inequalities of access to physical education, activity and sport and contribute to the sustainable development of developing countries.

Action plan

The seminar to be held in Lausanne is important for our organization in that it will allow us to take stock of our activities since our creation in 2007. More generally, I will take stock of the past and consider future prospects by considering the two MDGs (2000-2015) and SDOs (2015-2030) eras. Taking up the heads of the chapters of the action plan proposed by the Secretary General of the United Nations in July 2016, for these two periods, I will analyze the context, the policy developed and the investments made and carry out the evaluation of the results. Our experience leads us to identify the four challenges that SDP organizations will have to face in order to ensure the transformation of the world desired by the United Nations: coordinate, finance, evaluate and govern.

Challenges

Coordinating, financing, evaluating and governing are, in my view, the major challenges of the SDP sector if the sport world and its industry really want to assume Article 37, contribute to achieving SDGs by 2030 and help transform the world. These four challenges will also be our four objectives for the new era of universal goals. At the seminar in Lausanne, I will present the main arguments of the vision and plan of action of the General Secretariat of our organization to achieve these four objectives.

Finance

I will particularly emphasize the issue of financing youth sport through Public-Private Partnerships between States and Enterprises, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies of intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental organizations and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of companies, whether or not they are in the sports industry field. One of the challenges of achieving SDGs and the implementation of Article 37 will depend on the ability of all these organizations to effectively engage in ESG policies, including an SDP component.

Blog

That is why the evaluation of the impact of the policies carried out by these organizations will be decisive. Cooperation between our organization and our partner United Nations Global Sustainability Index Institute (UNGSII) will provide a good opportunity to measure and accelerate the transformation of the sporting world. The second series of this blog will allow me to review the experiences of the MDGs era and the challenges of the SDGs era. This will lead me to propose, step by step, a renewed SDP policy that will be synthesized in New York in December 2017 at the Global Goals Conference organized by UNGSII.

Next: Monday 9 October 2017 – Transform the world