Sport: a new driver for education and social inclusion
The idea that sporting activities play a significant role in promoting social integration and economic development in various geographical, cultural and political contexts is today increasingly shared around the world.
UNESCO considers sport as a powerful tool for strengthening social ties and promoting the ideals of peace, fraternity, solidarity, non-violence, tolerance and justice. It is also a way to contribute to improving the social and vocational integration of the most vulnerable groups. Similarly, an initiation to sport raises the awareness of young people, especially girls, about a number of social and health problems.
The crucial role of sport as a tool for development and social inclusion was already recognised by the 65th United Nations General Assembly for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015 and is now an integral part of the development assistance strategy of the United Nations for 2030.
The Basketball Experience programme, basketball for education
The Basketball Experience programme for education through sport in Africa is part of the “Sport and Development” partnership signed in June 2018 between AFD and the NBA, the world’s top basketball league.
It aims to create a dynamic for sporting activities in schools and cities in five countries of operation: Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. For this purpose, it is essential to gain the support of institutional stakeholders. It also aims to generate interest among the public authorities, communities and families and raise their awareness of the benefits of regular sporting activity for the health and personal development of young people, especially girls.
In each country of operation, an NGO and communication agency are responsible for implementing the activities:
• The NGO’s mission is to jointly build educational programmes with the NBA combining learning how to play basketball with education on a given theme related to the Sustainable Development Goals (citizenship, health, education, waste management, etc.). The local association recruits and trains about 20 trainers in this dual education. As the basketball part is handled by the NBA, the NGO benefits from capacity building for its teams. Once the trainers have been certified, they work in schools with students aged between 8 and 18, while in turn training physical education teachers.
• The communication agency handles the communication on the programme and the organisation of events (inauguration of basketball fields, official launches, “All-Star Games” inter-school finals). It is also responsible for the sports equipment required for the activities carried out by the NGO.
Expertise France, coordinator of the programme
Expertise France’s mission for this programme is to identify and recruit local partners in each country of operation (NGOs and communication agencies). The agency works extensively on coordinating, planning and monitoring the activities of the local partners, in close cooperation with AFD (and its network in the field) and the NBA. It ensures the consistency of the activities implemented and carries out capitalisation work on this innovative programme.
The programme started in Morocco (in Zenata and Greater Casablanca) and Nigeria (in Lagos), with the first activities in the spring of 2021. The launch of the programme in Senegal is scheduled for late 2021. In view of the health situation, special attention is paid to respecting local health protocols and the activities are adapted to changes in the situation.
