About Sport for One Humanity | #Sport4OneHumanity
The universality of sport and its unifying power
The universality of sport and its unifying power have been recognized as powerful tools to promote peace, tolerance and understanding. The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, adopted in 2015, explicitly stressed the ‘growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace .
Civil society organizations have for a long time recognized the potential of sport in peace and development by adopting the use of sport in fulfilling their objectives. They are necessary and central partners in advocacy, program development and delivery of sports-based initiatives at the community level whose impact trickles down to the national and global level. Therefore, it is important that the efforts of civil society organizations (CSOs) are supported to maintain and expand their contribution to peace and development as well as other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through sport.
In this context, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is pleased to support the Sport for One Humanity initiative, established by Turkish Airlines. The main objective of the Sport for One Humanity initiative is to select and support innovative sports-based projects implemented by CSOs that promote a culture of peace, mutual understanding and cooperation among diverse communities and cultures around the world. The initiative will give priority to projects using and promoting sport as a tool for strengthening diversity and inclusiveness, education and empowerment of youth, empowerment of women and girls, inclusion of persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups and fostering peaceful and inclusive societies.
Objectives of #Sport4OneHumanity
- Raise awareness on the power of sport as a tool to foster peaceful and inclusive societies;
- Empower and strengthen capacities of grassroot organizations that use sport to promote development and peace in the communities by providing them with capacity building, mentoring, support and visibility;
- Identify best practices/lessons learned on how sport builds bridges between individuals and across communities, and how it helps to attain development and peace objectives.
Beneficiaries of this initiative will be selected through a call for applications that will run from 30 March 2022 to 25 May 2022.
Capacity building and mentoring
Selected applicants will be provided with a comprehensive capacity-development program aimed at strengthening their effectiveness in their work. The support program will consist of training through face-to-face workshops facilitated by experts, addressing various topics of interest, and continued support through customized mentoring sessions, which will be delivered online.
Recognition and Visibility
Selected applicants will be invited to participate in a ceremony that will serve to increase their visibility, raise awareness about the initiative, and bring together influencers in sport, business and civil society. During the ceremony they will have the opportunity to network with their peers and build connections with the international community including organizations working on sport for development and peace.
Evaluation Process and Criteria
An international and interdisciplinary jury will evaluate the shortlisted applications against the evaluation criteria and select 10 projects as the beneficiaries of the Sport for One Humanity.
Applying organizations must:
- be registered as a not-for-profit organization (civil society organizations including non-governmental organizations, community- based organizations, foundations, associations, trusts, charities) with recognized legal status in the country where activities are implemented;
- have been operational for a minimum period of one year on the date of application;
- manage a project relevant for the sport for development and peace agenda;
- be directly responsible for the implementation of the proposed activities.
Submitted projects must:
- contribute to promoting intercultural dialogue, strengthening diversity and fostering inclusive societies through sport;
- have sufficient funding and resources for successful implementation of all activities;
- be committed to diversity, equity and inclusion objectives when engaging with target groups;
- be led by a project coordinator, who is an employee of the applying organization from the start of the project.
The shortlisted applicants will be evaluated against a set of criteria. These include three main categories:
Relevance
- The project contributes to the objective of promoting intercultural dialogue, strengthening diversity and fostering inclusive societies through sport;
- The project contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.);
- The project is based on relevant and adequate analysis of the challenges and needs of the target groups;
- The objectives of the project are clearly defined, realistic and address issues relevant to the target groups;
- The project has a clear diversity, equity and inclusion approach and ensures gender balance among project participants.
Quality
- The applicant demonstrates its expertise and ability to organize, coordinate and implement the various aspects of the proposed activities;
- The activities using sport as a tool to create positive social change are appropriate, practical and consistent with the objectives and expected results;
- The project budget is accurate, consistent between project objectives, methodology, activities and feasible;
- The composition of the project team involves an appropriate mix of experiences and expertise, and the allocation of roles is appropriate for successful delivery of activities and results.
Impact
- Sustainability of the proposed activities (the extent to which the activities will be carried out after the end of the project);
- Number and diversity of participants involved in and benefiting from the project’s activities;
- The quality of measures aimed at disseminating the outcomes of the project with the stakeholders and the wider public;
- The quality of the M&E tools and process is considered and clearly demonstrated.