International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

Monaco, Mar 26, 2014: As part of its new Athletics Better World (ABW) project, the IAAF is delighted to support the first ever International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, which is taking place on 6 April 2014.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 6 April as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace on 23 August 2013 at the UN Headquarters inNew York.

This day will be celebrated each year by UN Member States and other partner organizations to honour the role that sport plays in society, whether by encouraging healthier lifestyles, making sport more widely accessible or using sport as a vehicle for development in areas made vulnerable by conflict, poverty and inequality.

This decision marks an historic step in recognizing sport as a tool for development and peace and the IAAF is delighted to support not only the UN and the IOC but another Athletics Better World partner, Peace and Sport, which has set up a website and has created a number of tools which can used by anyone to promote and build awareness of 6 April.

IAAF President Lamine Diack said:

“Athletics is the world’s sport. Nothing could be simpler and more universal than the appeal of running, jumping and throwing as fast and as far as we can.

“But being the global sport means accepting a global responsibility: to use the power and reach of athletics to make a positive difference in the world.

“It is for this reason that I fully endorse the efforts being made by the UN and its partners to celebrate the first ever International Day of Sport for Development and Peace and I am happy to show a White Card to symbolise Peace and call on all members of the Athletics Family to join in the celebrations on 6 April by organising an appropriate activity.”

Note:

Athletics Better World (ABW), is a new programme that will harness the extraordinary commitment and energy of the worldwide athletics family to inspire lasting change, will be launched officially by IAAF President Lamine Diack on 8 April at the Sportaccord International Convention in Belek, Turkey.

ABW will provide a common platform to promote all projects that seek to use athletics as a tool for social good.

The ABW mark will identify athletics-based initiatives whose goals are aligned with any of the programme’s four key pillars:

Health, Environment, Social inclusion, Peace

From special competitions or events to tree planting and from sustainable event planning to keep-fit sessions for the local community, anything that demonstrates athletics making change for good belongs under Athletics Better World.

The goal is to provide a vehicle through which the entire athletics family can pull together, and show the world what we already know: that athletics is much more than a sport. —- IAAF