The BOLD Global Alliance for Women, Girls & Sport’s Post

A Billion Reasons to Embrace Inclusive Sport We were inspired by this session at the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform - Geneva Peace Week, organised by the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the UN and Decathlon, with panellists including a spokeperson for UNESCO-BIE and a Swiss paralympian. The panel discussion was a powerful illustration of the common goals shared by United Nations agencies, national governments, the private sector and sports organisations in using the power of sport to promote inclusion and development. The BOLD Global Alliance for Women, Girls & Sport is built on the conviction that collaboration, cooperation and communication between actors at all levels is crucial for the advancement of gender equality in and through sport. We were welcomed by Ana-Luiza Thompson-Flores (UNESCO), then watched an inspiring video about Dumisani Ntombela, a blind football coach in South Africa who created a women's team in the township of Vosloorus, near Johannesburg. Having suffered discrimination himself, Ntombela saw the potential of football as a tool to fight the problems of teenage pregnancy, crime, drug abuse and gender-based violence which he observed in his community. https://lnkd.in/eSvWyPfH H.E. Hend Abdalrahman Al-Muftah, ambassador for Qatar to the United Nations Office, spoke of her country's efforts, within the UN and at home, to promote the equality and inclusion of disabled people and of women and girls, in and through sport. Celine van Till, paralympic medalist and member of parliament of the canton of Geneva, spoke of her journey following a traumatic horseriding accident, to competing as a paralympian equestrian, then sprinter, then as a paracyclist. Sport was an important part of her recovery, both physically and mentally, but not without its own risks in terms of injury and mental pressure. Celine advised all athletes to look after their mental health. Amapola Alama (UNESCO International Bureau of Education) spoke of the valuable skills children can acquire through sport and physical education – skills such as setting goals, performing under pressure, cooperation, self-confidence. All of which, like more traditional school subjects, are more easily acquired in a nurturing environment - an environment where children feel seen, and are comfortable making mistakes and learning from them. Following the panel discussion, Sebastian Mozer of Swiss Inclusive Sport made the important point that embracing inclusive sport is a distinct goal from making sport accessible to all. This was nicely reflected by comments from an active member of a local ski club, who shared with us her experience when a number of disabled skiers joined the club. The inclusion of the disabled skiers resulted in exchanges which were enriching for disabled and non-disabled participants alike.