This document summarizes the key roles and functions of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace. The Adviser advocates for and promotes sport as a tool for development and peace. He facilitates dialogue and partnerships within the UN and with other organizations around using sport for these purposes. He also represents the UN Secretary-General at important sport events. The document then discusses how sport can be used to develop skills in youth like teamwork, communication, and decision making that help prevent youth crime and delinquency by providing an alternative to gangs and criminal behavior. However, sport must be implemented properly and integrated with other community interventions to have a positive impact.

1. Address by
Mr. Wilfried Lemke
Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General
on Sport for Development and Peace
UN Under-Secretary-General
“Sport for a Safer City”
International Youth Crime Prevention
and Cities Summit
Durban, South Africa
18 June 2008
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2. 2
Introduction
It is a great pleasure and honour for me to address you today at the International Youth
Crime Prevention and Cities Summit here in Durban, South Africa. This is the first time
for me in South Africa and I consider it a real privilege to be here.
The Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development
and Peace has three main functions:
• As an advocate, my role is to promote understanding and support for sport as a
tool for development and peace.
• As a facilitator, I bring together actors from different sectors of civil society and
within the UN system. I encourage dialogue, collaboration and partnerships
around sport for development and peace.
• As a representative, I will represent the Secretary-General and the UN system
at important global sport events and other strategically important fora.
In short, I work as an ambassador of the positive potential and best values of sport.
Last week I was in Switzerland for the EURO 2008, the football championship for
European nations. Switzerland and Austria are organizing this enormous sports event.
It was wonderful to experience the joining of humanity together, and to see the spirit of
fair-play on the football field, in the stadium and the lack of violence during and after
the Games. It would be wonderful if that same spirit was found in today’s cities.
The Youth of Today
In the world today, there are 2.2 billion children1
and 1.5 billion youth (aged 12-24). 2
Of
these, 1.9 billion3
and 1.3 billion4
respectively live in developing countries. Not one of
these children is born a criminal, not one is born socially deviant. So why are today’s
youth so often so violent? Why are today’s youth turning so often to crime?
The reasons that youth turn to crime are not dissimilar from country to country. The
reasons for dissatisfaction in any community are diverse and complex. We see this
here in South Africa with the recent outbreak of violence. But the cloud will pass, and
Africa and the world will get behind South Africa in the hosting of the World Cup. But
however complex, however poor, culturally diverse, economically disparate,
disintegrated, intolerant, all over the world, children need adequate nutrition, health
care, nurturing and love. Children need to feel socially included and equal with their
peers. We need to invest in our children, provide them the attention needed.
As Franklin D. Roosevelt said:
“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can always build our
youth for the future”.
1
UNICEF. Children living in Poverty, online: UNICEF
<http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/poverty.html>. [UNICEF, “Children”].
2
World Bank, Development and the Next Generation 2007 (Washington DC: World Bank, 2007) at 4.
3
UNICEF, “Children”, supra note 1.
4
Ibid.

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Reasons for youth criminality
A child who is unmotivated and uninspired will develop into a socially and culturally
isolated adolescent. Many youth live in contexts and circumstances where
disadvantage places them at risk of involvement in delinquency and crime. A child with
low self-esteem and self-worth, lack of companionship, poor school performance or
non-attendance and the absence of caring adult guidance can all contribute to the
choice to engage in delinquent or criminal behaviour.5
In the case of youth living in
extreme poverty or armed conflict situations, coercion and/or a lack of alternative
means of survival may be the primary driver.
A child who is excluded from a secure family environment, and cast onto the streets
with nowhere to go and nothing to do will seek a new culture, a new community. On the
streets, that culture is often gang culture. Anti-social behaviour will turn that child to
drugs, crime and violence.
The Values of Sport
One of the few activities common to youth all over the world and acceptable within
each country and within each community is sport. Sport can be used to develop
citizenship values in young people. Sport can provide a community which is not a gang.
Sport can provide values which are contrary to those of a gang.
Sport provides the opportunity for:
• Team-building skills; 6
• Communication skills;7
• Decision making skills;8
• Problem solving skills;9
• Life skills;10
• Sense of community;11
• Self-esteem;12
• Personal responsibility;13
• Empathy;14
• Socio-moral development;15
• Resiliency;16
and
• Improved educational achievement.17
5
M. Ewing and V. Seefeldt, Youth Sport in America: An Overview, originally published in Series 2,
Number 11 of the PCPFS Research Digest. Online: www.fitness.gov/youthsports.pdf
6
S. Priest & M.A. Gass, Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming (Champaign, IL, Human
Kinetics: 1997).
7
Ibid.
8
B.J. Robertson, Leisure Education as a Rehabilitative Tool for Youth in Incarceration Settings. Journal
of Leisurability, 27(2), 27-34, (2000).
9
G. Moore, In Our Hands: the future is in the hands of those who give our young people hope and
reason to live, The British Journal of Teaching Physical Education, 33(2), 26-27, (2002).
10
S.J. Danish, Teaching Life Skills through Sport, in M. Gatz & M. A. Messner & S. J. Ball-Rokeach
(eds.), Paradoxes of Youth and Sport (pp. 49-59), (Albany, NY, State University of New York Press:
2002).
11
C.D. Ennis, Creating a culturally relevant curriculum for disengaged girls. Sport, Education and Society,
4(1), 31-49, (1999).
12
G. Nichols, A Consideration of Why Active Participation in Sport and Leisure Might Reduce Criminal
Behaviour, Sport, Education and Society, 2(2), 181-190, (1997).
13
Wild (2002); D. Hellison, Teaching Responsibility Through Physical Activity, (Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics: 1995).
14
D.L.L. Shields and B.J.L. Bredemeier, Character Development and Physical Activity, (Champaign, IL,
Human Kinetics: 1995).
15
S.C. Miller, B.J.L. Bredemeier, & D.L.L. Shields, Sociomoral Education Through Physical Education
With At-Risk Children, Quest, 49, 114-129 (1997); Hellison (1995)
16
G.S. Goodman, Alternatives in Education: Critical Pedagogy for Disaffected Youth. (New York: Peter
Lang: 1999); L.P. Hurley & L.L. Lustbader, Project Support: Engaging Children and Families in the
Educational Process. Adolescence, 32(127), 523-531 (1997).

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Sport’s ability to contribute to these skills and values is believed to be linked to a
number of factors, although more research is needed to clarify the processes involved
and their subsequent effects. Perhaps the most obvious is sport’s significance and
popularity among children and youth, particularly boys.18
Different sports have been found to provide different social benefits: team sports e.g.
football, volleyball develop social skills such as communication, conflict management
and working effectively with others toward a common goals; individual sports e.g.
athletics, table tennis, develop self reliance, self-discipline and personal goal-setting;
extreme sports e.g. mountain biking, mountaineering, kayaking, provide adrenaline,
and an alternative to drug use and violence, sense of adventure.
At all times, and across all sports, sport must be conducted in the right spirit, with
appropriate community conditions and facilities. Sports programmes must be well-
designed and focused on the healthy development of children. By integrating with other
community level interventions, and involving parents, teachers and peers, sports
programmes can make a positive impact.
The Limitations of Sport
Sport is a mirror of society. As long as our society does not get rid of violence, crime
and cheating, they will remain reflected in sport. But let me stress that doping,
hooliganism and any other behaviour contradicting the genuine spirit of sport must be
continually fought against. I want to promote the good aspects of sport at the expense
of the bad. I strongly believe in the unique potential of sport to help create a better
world.
Sport in the prevention of youth crime
Evidence shows that those who participate in sport are less likely to engage in
delinquent behaviour,19
and have reduced rates of criminal arrest and anti-social
behaviour.20
Many attempts have been made to try to explain the negative relationship between
delinquency and sport involvement and a variety of hypotheses are being explored.
These include:
• Sport reduces the amount of unstructured time for youth;21
17
J. Long, M. Welch, P. Bramham, J. Butterfield, K. Hylton, & E. Lloyd, Count Me In: The Dimensions of
Social Inclusion through Culture, Media & Sport, (Leeds Metropolitan University: 2002).
18
W.D. Brettschneider, Adolescents, Leisure, Sport and Lifestyle, in T. Williams, L. Almond & A. Sparkes
(eds.), Sport and Physical Activity: Moving Towards Excellence - The proceedings of the AIESEP
World Convention (London, Spon: 1992).
19
Ewing and Seefeldt (2001) Ibid. The following sources are cited:
• P. Donnelly, “Athletes and juvenile delinquents: A comparative analysis based on a review of the
literature”. (1981) 16 Adolescence at 415-431.
• D.N. Hastad et al., ”Youth sports participation and deviant behavior” (1984) 1 Sociology of Sports
Journal at 366-373.
• M.J. Melnick, B.E. Vanfossen, & D.F. Sabo, “Developmental effects of athletic participation among
high school girls”. (1988) 5 Sociology of Sports Journal at 22-36.
• J.O. Segrave, Sports and juvenile delinquency, in R. Terjung (ed.), Exercise and sports sciences
review, 2 , (1983) at 161-209.
• J.O. Segrave & D Hastad, “Delinquent behavior and interscholastic participation”. (1982) 5 Journal
of Sports Behavior at 96-111.
20
M Totten, The Cost of Excluding Ontario’s Youth from Play. A Call to Action!, (Play Works Partnership,
Toronto ON: 2005). Online: ww/playworkspartnership.ca
21
Ewing and Seefeldt (2001)

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• Sport encourages less frequent, shorter, or less intense interaction with deviant
others;22
• Sport provides a second chance for those engaged in delinquency, criminal
gangs and armed conflict by offering a path to a positive alternative lifestyle.
• The values of sport – such as teamwork, effort, and achievement – discourage
delinquent behaviour;23
• Sport fosters a belief that hard work can lead to just rewards;24
and
• Sport increases “protective” factors that enable youth to resist pressures to
engage in delinquency and crime.25
The Role of the Urban Environment
Sport can be a powerful tool to address today’s social problems. But each community,
each city requires minimal services and infrastructure to make sport possible. The
physical and social environment of cities has a major impact on physical activity levels.
Crowding, crime, traffic, poor air quality, and a lack of parks, sports and recreational
facilities, make physical activity and sports a difficult choice for many people.
The challenge for governments is to foster sustainable environments that encourage
the regular practice of physical activity and sport in the community.26
Key issues also
include access to open spaces, playgrounds, gymnasiums, stairwells and road
networks, as well as social factors such as levels of crime and the local sense of
community.27
The challenge before us is how to foster sustainable environments that encourage
sport in the community and how to manage social factors such as levels of crime and
the local sense of community. Urban planning and policy choices must be made wisely.
The Role of the United Nations
Around the world, sport is being used for education, health, development and peace.
The United Nations has an important role to play including the appointment of UN
Goodwill Ambassadors. These Ambassadors are often athletes such as the
appointment by UNICEF of Francesco Totti from Italy and George Weah from Liberia,
and well-known sport teams such as A.C. Milan, Manchester United, and Real Madrid
as Goodwill Ambassadors.
Research on youth participation in criminal gangs has shown that lack of a positive
adult role model is the best predictor of gang membership28
and a key differentiating
factor between gang and non-gang members,29
underscoring the critical importance of
positive adult role models in the lives of youth. High-profile athletes – local or global –
can have a strong influence on youth who admire and often wish to emulate them. Role
models often appeal for resources for sports facilities. They visit schools and
22
Hastad et. al. (1984) and Segrave and Hastad (1982), cited in Ewing and Seefeldt (2001).
23
W.E. Schafer, Sports, socialization, and the school: Toward maturity of enculturation, paper presented
at the Third International Symposium on the Sociology of Sports, Waterloo, Ontario (1971), cited in
Ewing and Seefeldt (2001)
24
Ewing and Seefeldt (2001).
25
T. Martinek, Enhancing Positive Youth Development through Sport, online: Hellenic Academy of
Physical Education <http://www.hape.gr/l8/forum/Martinek.pdf>.
26
WHO, Health and Development Through Physical Activity and Sport (Geneva, 2003) at 6. Online:
WHO <http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2003/WHO_NMH_NPH_PAH_03.2.pdf>.
27
Ibid.
28
J.W. Johnstone, Recruitment to a youth gang. Youth and Society, 14, 281-300 (1983), cited in Ewing
and Seefeldt (2001).
29
A.Y. Wang, Pride and prejudice in high school gang members. Adolescence, 29(114), 279-291(1994),
cited in Ewing and Seefeldt (2001).

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communities to communicate important messages about health, drugs, HIV/AIDS,
motivation, and life skills.
My role as Special Adviser is to promote the use of sport as a tool to help achieve the
Millennium Development Goals (see annex). My role is also to strengthen global
partnerships and local programmes. Programmes such as SCORE, here in South
Africa, that uses sport to provide skills and opportunities.
The partnership between UNODC and the Qatar National Olympic Committee (QNOC)
to establish the Global Sport Fund (GSF) is an example of a programme initiated to
help prevent vulnerable young people from being sucked into crime and drug abuse.
GSF was established by UNODC with funding from the QNOC. It is intended that GSF-
supported activities will be models for what can be accomplished by sport on and off
the field, strengthening communities by helping young people choose better lives.
Partnerships are crucial. We cannot be experts in all areas and therefore we must
identify experts in particular areas of social work.
The youth of today need our help. They face immense instability. We need to develop
and build individuals who are responsible, act with integrity and play a part in the
development of their communities.
As former Minister of Interior and Sports in Germany, I have seen how crucial it is that
we support our young people, that we make them proud to be members of their
communities and that we keep them protected within those communities.
Sport can support them, it can make them proud and confident members of their
community; it can keep them in their community and aware from criminality.
Conclusion
As members of the international community, we can assist the youth of today. We can
give priority to communities that are severely affected by social exclusion, deprivation,
conflict and criminality. We can help provide security: within the family and within the
community. While we cannot solve all the problems, we can prevent new ones arising.
A dialogue is needed amongst communities, amongst experts. Our efforts need to be
cost-effective and impact-oriented. We need a coordinated effort to help the youth of
this world.
It is no coincidence that this conference is held here, in South Africa, where, in almost
exactly 2 years from now, one of the world’s largest sporting events will kick off: the
FIFA World Cup. This event is a great opportunity to send to the world a positive
message. A message of fairplay, friendship, respect, tolerance, and solidarity! It will be
an enormous sporting festival and It will be a success, but only if it leaves a lasting
legacy, not only in South Africa, but on the entire continent!
Thank you for your attention.

7. 7
Contribution of sport to attainment of the Millennium Development Goals30
MILLENNIUM
DEVELOPMENT GOAL
CONTRIBUTION OF SPORT
1. Eradicate extreme poverty
and hunger
• Participants, volunteers and coaches acquire transferable
life skills which increase their employability
• Vulnerable individuals are connected to community
services and supports through sport-based outreach programs
• Sport programs and sport equipment production provide
jobs and skills development
• Sport can help prevent diseases that prevent people from
working and impose health care costs on them
• Sport can help reduce stigma and increase self-esteem,
self-confidence and social skills, leading to increased
employability
2. Achieve universal primary
education
• School sport programs motivate children to enrol in and
attend school and can help improve academic achievement
• Sport-based community education programs provide
alternative education opportunities for children who cannot
attend school
• Sport can be help erode stigma preventing children with
disabilities from attending school
3. Promote gender equality
and empower women
• Sport helps improve female physical and mental health
and offers opportunities for social interaction and friendship
• Sport participation leads to increased self-esteem, self-
confidence, and enhanced sense of control over one’s body
• Girls and women access leadership opportunities and
experience
• Sport can cause positive shifts in gender norms that afford
girls and women greater safety and control over their lives
• Women and girls with disabilities are empowered by sport-
based opportunities to acquire health information, skills, social
networks, and leadership experience
4. Reduce child mortality • Sport can be used to educate and deliver health
information to young mothers, leading to healthier children
• Increased physical fitness improves children’s resistance
to some diseases
• Sport can help reduce rate of higher-risk adolescent
pregnancies
• Sport based vaccination and prevention campaigns help
reduce child deaths and disability from measles, malaria and
polio
• Inclusive sport programs help lower the likelihood of
infanticide by promoting greater acceptance of children with
disabilities
5. Improve maternal health • Sport for health programs offer girls and women greater
access to reproductive health information and services
• Increased fitness levels help speed post-natal recovery.
6. Combat HIV and AIDS,
malaria, and other
diseases
• Sport programs can be used to reduce stigma and
increase social and economic integration of people living with
HIV/AIDS
• Sport programs are associated with lower rates of health
30
Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG), Draft 2008, “Harnessing the
Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Advice to Governments”.

8. 8
risk behaviour that contributes to HIV infection
• Programs providing HIV prevention education and
empowerment can further reduce HIV infection rates
• Sport can be used to increase measles, polio and other
vaccination rates
• Involvement of celebrity athletes and use of mass sport
events can increase reach and impact of malaria, TB and other
education and prevention campaigns
7. Ensure environmental
sustainability
• Sport-based public education campaigns can raise
awareness of importance of environmental protection and
sustainability
• Sport-based social mobilization initiatives can enhance
participation in community action to improve local environment
8. Develop a global
partnership for
development
• Sport for Development and Peace efforts catalyse global
partnerships and increase networking among governments,
donors, NGOs and sport organizations worldwide