NI Sport & Human Rights Forum discusses Child Rights in Sport
The latest NI Sport and Human Rights Forum meeting has explored children’s rights in sport.
Emily and Nada from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) gave an update on human rights relevant to sport and children. This included highlighting recent recommendations from a number of UN Committees, including the Committee on the Rights of the Child in relation to sport.
Next up to present was Daryl Forsythe and Melissa Fordham from the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, talking about how the Rio Ferdinand Foundation uses sport to tackle issues of segregation and racism.
Following the Rio Ferdinand Foundation was Paul Stephenson from the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit. Paul focused on giving children a voice in sport and looking at some best practice examples of safeguarding for sports organisations.
The Forum then heard from Gareth Harper from PeacePlayers NI, who updated the Forum on how PeacePlayers NI work to create the next generation of peacemakers through sport. He included a video from 2 young participants, AJ and Rachel, who described how their PeacePlayers NI journey has helped them to develop and strong and genuine cross community friendship.
Finally, Joe Donnelly from Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues (TAMHI), spoke about TAMHI’s work with young people around mental health. As it was Anti-Bullying Week, Joe focused particularly on TAMHI’s anti-bullying work with young people.
Chair of the NI Sport & Human Rights Forum Conal Heatley said:
“It was invaluable to hear about the wider human rights context and framework around child rights and sport, as well as seeing the breadth of work being undertaken by members to provide a safe, inclusive and enjoyable environment for children and young people.
I would like to thank the representatives from NIHRC, Rio Ferdinand Foundation, NSPCC, PeacePlayersNI and TAMHI for taking the time to speak to Forum members about their work.”
NIHRC Chief Commissioner, Alyson Kilpatrick, said:
“The NI Sport and Human Rights Forum discussed a wide range of issues affecting children and young people in sport.
Members shared information on initiatives aimed at instilling good practice at every stage. It is heartening to see the strength of commitment by sporting organisations to protect and promote the human rights of children through sport.”
ENDS
To sign up for updates or to attend the next NI Sport and Human Rights Forum, please email info@nihrc.org.
Find out more about the presenters:
NIHRC: https://nihrc.org/
Rio Ferdinand Foundation: https://www.rioferdinandfoundation.com/
NSPCC: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/northern-ireland/
PeacePlayers NI: https://peaceplayers.org/northern-ireland/
TAMHI: https://tamhi.org/