Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-30-Speech-3-090"
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"en.20051130.12.3-090"2
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".
Madam President, the United Nations has declared 2005 to be the International Year of sport and physical education. The year is also intended as an incentive to create conditions for more and better sports projects in developing countries. Countries and NGOs are encouraged to do more in the framework of development cooperation and sport. The UN is convinced that sport can make a significant contribution to achieving the Millennium Objectives.
This is the first time that development cooperation and sport have appeared together on our agenda, and it is something that I welcome. Sport brings people of different races, classes, levels of education and cultures together. Sport can make a positive contribution to social cohesion, teamwork, health, intercultural dialogue, and many other things.
It is also the perfect tool to reach the more vulnerable groups in society, such as people with a disability and children, and appears to be a marvellous tool whereby traumatised children – child soldiers spring to mind –may come to terms with their traumas and be reintegrated into society. That is why sport can play a vital role in terms of development. It benefits those who like to indulge in healthy activities, both as individuals and as communities, because it can help create better relations between different groups of people.
Large organisations, such as UNICEF or Olympic committees in various countries, but also national governments, such as those of Norway, Canada, Great Britain and the Netherlands, international sports umbrella organisations, such as FIFA, are all carrying out projects in this area.
In the Netherlands, not just the government is active, but also NGOs, such as the NKS, the Dutch Catholic Sports Federation, have been working on sports projects in developing countries for years. These projects have turned out to be low cost high impact projects. Interesting examples can also be found, for example, in the area of education and health care and also in the prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Where development and sport are concerned, the position of women deserves a special mention. In many cases, women are hindered in practising sports, for example, because of dress code or because they cannot simply leave the home.
Everyone should be entitled to practise a sport. I am therefore pleased with the oral amendment that is being prepared to this effect in order to stress this point.
The question to the Commission and the Council is intended to raise awareness in Europe about the opportunities that sport can offer in the area of development cooperation. I would like to hear from the Commission about the experience the Commission has of programmes of this kind, and also whether the Commission can, and indeed wants to, make a contribution to broadening the knowledge of the possibilities and to encouraging Member States to promote projects in this area, for example organised by sports organisation NGOs in their own country. The Commission might even consider freeing up some funding.
In any event, I sincerely hope that this UN year of development cooperation and sport will be seized to take advantage of opportunities to do more in terms of development cooperation."@en1
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