Sport as a Tool for Reconciliation
blurb:isstoday:05112008sport
5 November 2008: Sport as a Tool for Reconciliation
At an African Union (AU) conference in 2007 in Addis Ababa that coincided with the year of the African Soccer Cup of Nations, former South African president Thabo Mbeki recommended that soccer be part of a continental strategy for post-conflict reconstruction and development (PCRD). South Africa chairs the AU committee on PCRD for Sudan and has been involved in several other initiatives in countries emerging from conflict. On the same theme, the launch of an innovative Sport for Peace Programme, aimed at promoting reconciliation and development, is regarded by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special adviser on sport for development and peace Adolf Ogi as “an essential tool for creating peace, national reconciliation and harmony”. Being a universal language that crosses all boundaries, sport provides a neutral ground for people to come together, it provides communities with the opportunity to reconcile and it teaches important values such as respect, tolerance, solidarity, teamwork and fairness, says Ogi.
The value of sport in mitigation of the effects of conflict lies in its characteristics. One such characteristic is sport’s uniting vision. The objective of sport is its single preoccupation with the desire to win. For a country to eject itself from a dismal war-torn situation, cooperation amongst its peoples is an absolute necessity. Sport in a war-torn country has the capacity of projecting the entire state towards that single desire to win, or at least pre-occupy people with the idea that they can win. A common mission and vision also provides people with a valuable lesson in cohesion - like a team that works towards a common purpose, a country is able to work towards stability. Another characteristic of sport that flows from that of a common mission and vision - and is therefore helpful to countries emerging from conflict - is teamwork. Introduction of team sport in countries under stress helps to build this crucial trait.
The extent to which sport has contributed towards peace and stability in some of the war-torn countries demonstrates its potential as a tool for reconciliation. Liberia is a perfect example. The country’s International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Liberian authorities and the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) last year received $76,000 worth of sporting goods and equipment that included football, kickball and volleyball equipment for distribution to the country’s 15 counties (UN News Centre, 2007). There may also be a significant truth to the belief that former presidential candidate George Weah’s political support resides in the fact that he has been an international footballer - an achievement that makes a large segment of the Liberian electorate relate to him as symbol of hope for a country that has been ravaged by war for such a long time.
It is clear that not enough is being done to promote sport as an embodiment of values of tolerance, peace and development, as the AU hoped to achieve at the launch of the 2007 International Year of African Football. The following may contribute towards making a significant difference to the positive role sport can play in social inclusion and support, by reaching out to the most vulnerable and disenfranchised populations across the world:
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Stop the banning from sports events of countries accused of bad governance, as taking such measures only serves to entrench instability;
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Sport for Peace should move beyond merely having special ambassadors for sport to taking international sport to the countries emerging from conflict. Liberia and the Ivory Coast’s response to George Weah and Didier Drogba are cases in point. Periodic global or regional star matches in these countries can only serve to give the societies reprieve from instability and solidify the desire for more peaceful existence.
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No effort should be spared to flood war-torn countries with a variety of sports equipment.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan highlighted the value of sport for the well-being of countries at the Olympic Aid Roundtable Forum during Salt Lake City’s 2002 Olympic Games, when he said:
“People in every nation love sport. Its values – fitness, fair play, teamwork, and pursuit of excellence – are universal. At its best, it brings people together, no matter what their origin, background, religious belief or economic status”.
This is the kind of observation that brings hope to a world that begs for peace, stability and development. The caveat as stated by the former United Nations Secretary-General is that only at its zenith does sport achieve that which countries in war-torn situarions yearn for: a harmonious existence across all divides.
Tarrin-Rae Oxche, Junior Researcher, Security Sector Governance Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)
