Call for commitment to human rights on International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

On International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), the Chair of the Northern Ireland Sport and Human Rights Forum has called for organisations to join up and consider signing the Declaration on Sport and Human Rights.

The United Nations-backed International Day provides an opportunity to highlight how sport has the power to help us realise our rights, promoting respect, inclusivity, and peace for all. This year’s theme is ‘Scoring for people and the planet’, looking at the great potential for sport to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Conal Heatley, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Sport and Human Rights Forum said:

“Sport has the power to bring us all together to advance our human rights. The Northern Ireland Sport and Human Rights Forum was created for sporting bodies and organisations to come together to explore how best to embed human rights into their work, learn and share best practice, and work together on areas of mutual interest.

On this IDSDP we call on organisations interested in becoming members to get in touch with us and attend the next meeting of the Forum in May. With over 80 members there is a wealth of experience and value in coming together as a group in order to empower ourselves and use human rights for good in sport.

For the many sports who are already members of the Forum, we call on them to sign up to our Declaration on Sport and Human Rights. The Declaration provides 10 commitments to promoting human rights, equality, participation, accessibility, procurement and good governance across all areas of the sporting organisation. It is a positive step for any organisation to champion human rights through their sport.”

David Russell, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission added:

“The Northern Ireland Human Rights and Sport Forum has examined a wide range of human rights issues such as empowering women and girls, promoting good physical and mental health, transgender inclusion in sport, increasing accessibility for persons with disabilities, tackling racism and homophobia, addressing poverty and homelessness. All of these are important objectives in relation to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. The Forum recognises the role that sport has to play in advancing these goals and creating a fairer and more peaceful society.”

ENDS

Notes

• The Northern Ireland Sport & Human Rights Forum was established in May 2019. The Forum has been established as a multi-stakeholder platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and good practice on sport and human rights issues.

• The Chair of the NI Sport and Human Rights Forum is Conal Heatley, Chief Executive at Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland.

• The NI Sport and Human Rights Forum meets four times a year and builds on the Declaration of Sport and Human Rights, empowering shared learning in the area of sport and human rights. For more information about the Forum, or to sign up for the next meeting, please contact Michael.boyd@nihrc.org

• The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is an independent statutory body first proposed in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (1998) and established in 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act (1998). It is answerable to Parliament at Westminster.
• The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), which takes place annually on 6 April. For more information please see this link: https://www.un.org/en/observances/sport-day