Thirty years ago, world leaders adopted the Copenhagen Declaration and set work in motion on three interrelated pillars of social development: poverty eradication, full and productive employment and decent work for all, and social integration.
Fast-forward to 2025 progress is real, but uneven and fragile.
According to the World Social Report 2025, we now face a mounting global social crisis of economic insecurity, staggering inequality and collapsing social trust. Less than 30% of the population in countries with data think that most people can be trusted. Increasingly, differences in opinion, preferences, values and beliefs lead to negative perceptions about other people’s moral values and trustworthiness. This deep lack of trust destroys social cohesion and makes our societies less inclusive.
Narratives of “us versus them” are increasing and, at the same time, the Global Peace Index 2025 reports that global peacefulness continues to deteriorate. Today, the world is facing 59 active conflicts, the highest number since the Second World War. This is not an abstract figure: it means 460 million children growing up amid violence, 122 million people forced from their homes, and more than 300 million depending on humanitarian aid.
The business world is signaling warning lights too. According to the World Economic Forum, polarization in society is one of the top five global risks for the coming years.
Sport is a cost-effective tool to face these challenges, if used with the intention to teach respect, to foster mutual understanding and inclusion.
In 1995, sport was not identified as a leverage for social development. Things have now changed. In the Doha Political Declaration adopted at the Second World Summit for Social Development, Heads of State commit explicitly to advancing the role of sport for social integration, inclusion, and sustainable development (para 31-j).
This may sound abstract, but for practitioners it is a significant and symbolic milestone: moving sport from the margins to the mainstream of social development.
But let’s be clear: words are not enough. The Summit’s Declaration is important, but only if followed by concrete action, and a real paradigm change. Decision makers must shift the focus from developing sport to using sport as a tool for social development and peace, with clear policies, sustainable investment and robust impact measurement mechanisms.
That is why Peace and Sport stepped up.
As the only Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) organization present at the Summit, and as co-organizer of the Solutions session “Policy meets the pitch: integrating sport into social inclusion agendas” alongside UN DESA, Monaco Mission to the UN, Qatar Mission to the UN, UN Women and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), we highlighted the challenges that still persist in turning declarations into reality.
One key challenge that we identify, based on direct field observations and academic research on SDP practices, is the lack of effective communication channels between policymakers and actors on the ground. Despite shared objectives, each side often faces barriers to understanding the other’s needs, priorities, and language.
Grassroots organizations are uniquely placed to identify local challenges, develop concrete solutions and generate impact through sport, yet they frequently lack access to sustainable funding and policy support. Policymakers, meanwhile, require reliable data, scalable models, and trusted interlocutors to inform decision-making and measure results.
Bridging this divide is essential if the commitments made at the Summit in Doha are to translate into tangible outcomes. Intermediary actors, organizations capable of interpreting, connecting, and aligning these two levels, play a vital role in ensuring that global frameworks reach the communities they are designed to serve and that local best practices and evidence inform policy-making.
This is where Peace and Sport plays a pivotal role.
As an intermediary actor, through our network of Champions for Peace, our long-lasting experience on the field and our multi-lateral partnerships, we translate between two worlds, fostering mutual understanding, trust, and co-creation.
Together let’s make sport not a footnote, but a foundation of social development and, by consequence, of more inclusive and peaceful communities.
