If sustainable development is about promoting a range of economic/social and community based outcomes to build sustainable societies, then the value of sports as a means of bringing children and hence their parents and young people together to co-operate and participate in tackling common issues is unquestionable. This is in addition to its direct value in promoting health in children and young adults, which is in itself a key element in development.  

 

India would also like to appreciate the  work of the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) over the last decade and recognize the  valuable contribution of the Group of Friends of Sport for Development and Peace in supporting the UNOSDP.  The designation of April 6th as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace has been an important marker for flagging the relevance of sports to development and peace.  

 

Mr. President 

 

The spread of the Olympic movement and its popularity, as well as the immense following and popularity of national and world championships of major sports like soccer, basketball, cricket, hockey, tennis highlight their role as celebrations of global goodwill. The stories of many of its superstars who have risen from poverty and destitution are powerful messages of hope and happiness to millions of young people in the world. The sports stars in turn become valuable messengers in spreading developmental messages.   

 

As the national sport of India which reaches millions of people in cities / towns and villages in India, Cricket and its stars provide a very important platform for spreading social messages.  Indian cricket's greatest icon, Sachin Tendulkar illustrates this.  Tendulkar was part of a popular national campaign to promote hygiene among children which encouraged school children to wash their hands before eating food.  Similarly, he has recently been a brand ambassador for India's 'Swachch Bharat' or 'Clean India' campaign.    

 

Another Government of India initiative which has advanced social and educational development in backward areas has been the system of 'sports hostels', spread across the country.  These are residential sports facilities created to take advantage of location specific sports talent.  Sports hostels in east India, particularly the States of Bihar and Jharkhand have given an educational platform for young girls from tribal areas in the two states.   This opportunity has paid dividends not only for the young women but also for India.   India's junior and senior women's hockey teams are now dominated by players who have emerged from these tribal areas.     

 

While it may not have had direct developmental impact, the sports goods industry in India, which is mainly composed of smaller scale family owned businesses, has improved livelihoods and provided gainful employment in areas where it is clustered.  The industry which has grown to approximately US $ 700 million by 2015 has its nucleus in the states of Punjab in the north and the poorer state of Uttar Pradesh.  The growth of national sports leagues and the ability to cater to global sports markets, has made these hubs an important income and employment generator, thus improving the socio-economic status of the areas where they have developed in these States.    

 

Mr. President 

 

Sports's capacity to impact peace and security is vividly illustrated by the UNICEF's Sports for Development Program in the leftist insurgency affected district of Chhatisgarh State in India.  Naxalism or leftist insurgency had become a very serious problem in the Sukma district of the State.  The UNICEF program  initiated in 2006-07 was an effort address issues arising from the civil strife in the region, particularly with regard to children affected by violence and displacement.   Implemented through 'Khel Mitras' or mentors, these  'Khel Mitras' used sports and games to connect with  children and help them deal with the violence and  resultant trauma and encourage them to continue in school.   This in turn provided the window for bringing key messages about development and lifestyle changes to the children and their parents.  The program's success has seen its expansion across other primary schools in the state of Chhatisgarh. 

 

I would like to mention two innovative sports for development programs run by Non-Governmental institutions in India which highlight the potential of sports as a community builder and contributor to development initiatives.  The first is Project Khel, a program which uses sports as a platform to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds to grow into responsible and contributing members of society.  Working from Lucknow, a major city in central India, Project KHEL works with orphans, street children, children of migrant labour and children from slums in four month long bi-weekly sports and games sessions which focus on building a personal sense of worth in the children and teaching them problem solving skills.  Specific sessions also focus on issues like health, substance abuse, civic sense and personal hygiene.  The organisation is today working with ten partner institutions and two slum locations in the city.  A similar program in the western metropolis Mumbai is OSCAR Foundation which uses football or soccer to teach the value of education and life skills to under privileged children.  The specific objective of the program is to support children and youth to continue in school.  OSCAR's young leaders work with these children as role models and mentors.    

 

Mr. President 

 

While organised sports is today a major source of entertainment in the world and is an industry on its own, the challenge of extending  the pleasures of sport and its benefits to millions of young children in the less developed and developing worlds should remain an important objective.   Therefore, we believe, that the first task is the creation of safe open spaces and playing areas for such children.  Hence, investment in creating sports infrastructure and a culture of participation in sports is crucial. A holistic combination of such investment allied with some of the examples of the specific interventions through sports, that I highlighted above could be the ideal approach.  

 

To conclude, India is a strong of the view that sports is an important enabler of sustainable development and will be supportive of all efforts in this direction.