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Sport, a key tool for integration and socialization among Ivorian youth

Ivory Coast


Country:

  • Ivory Coast

Dates:

  • 2008 to 2015

Beneficiaries

  • 800 children and young people in difficult circumstances (orphaned, out of school) from disadvantaged areas

Impact

  • 2 100 people (parents, families and communities)

Project leaders

  • Peace and Sport, 24 directors and 6 instructors, employed full-time at the youth centres

Peace and Sport’s role

  • Promote children’s education, integration and socialization through sport projects
  • Providing technical expertisefinancial and material support for local stakeholders and their projects
  • Assist stakeholders in structuring their program’s activities
  • Building sustainable collaboration between the local field actors and sports federations
  • Capacity-building in Sport Simple Solutions for directors, sports instructors and the Ivorian Office of School and University Sport

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After the decolonization of Ivory Coast, the country enjoyed strong economic and social growth, before entering a period of stagnation in the 1980s. In 2002, a coup attempt developed into a full-scale rebellion and in 2011, the results of the presidential election plunged the county into chaos. As a result of the war, many children were separated from their families, displaced, traumatized, dropped out of the school and forced into vagrancy.

To tackle this situation, the Ivorian government launched a ‘National Program to Develop and Promote Sport for Peace Education’, which aims to use sport as a means of fostering a culture of democracy. In February 2008, the government, via the national sports movement, requested Peace and Sport’s cooperation.

Judo, Rugby and Athletics (including the joint hosting of a Half-marathon for Peace in Abidjan in 2011)

  • Use of sport to foster peace: Community centres use sport to reinforce social ties and as a tool for integration
  • Sustainability of the programs:two judo centres in Abidjan (Marcory district) and in San Pedro and a rugby school in Daloa offer year-round sporting activities to strengthen dialogue and social cohesion among youngsters from various communities
  • Access to basic education:Sports instruction is combined with literary classes, academic support and educational activities which focus on important issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention and environmental protection as well as learning about democracy

Our Champions on the field

Our partners

Field programs

  • All
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • South America