Getting Into the Game Understanding the Evidence for Child-Focused Sport for Development
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Getting into the Game Understanding the evidence for child-focused sport for development PROVISIONAL PUBLICATION Unicef Office Of Research – Innocenti The Office of Research – Innocenti is UNICEF’s dedicated research centre. It undertakes research on emerging or current issues, to inform the strategic directions, policies and programmes of UNICEF and its partners, shape global debates on child rights and development, and inform the global research and policy agenda for all children, and particularly for the most vulnerable. Publications produced by the Office are contributions to a global debate on children and may not necessarily reflect UNICEF’s policies or approaches. The views expressed are those of the authors. The text has been reviewed both externally and within UNICEF. The text has not been edited to official publications standards and UNICEF accepts no responsibility for errors. Extracts from this report summary may be freely reproduced with due acknowledgement. Requests to utilize larger portions or the full report should be addressed to the Communication Unit: [email protected]. For readers wishing to cite this document, we suggest the following form: Office of Research – Innocenti. ‘Getting into the Game: Understanding the evidence for child-focused sport for development, Summary Report’, UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, Florence (2019). Correspondence should be addressed to: UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti Via degli Alfani, 58 50121 Florence, Italy Tel: (+39) 055 20 330 Fax: (+39) 055 2033 220 [email protected] www.unicef-irc.orgPROVISIONAL PROVISIONAL twitter: @UNICEFInnocenti facebook.com/UnicefOfficeofResearchInnocenti © United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),PUBLICATION March 2019 PUBLICATION Getting into the Game Understanding the evidence for child-focused sport for development PROVISIONAL PROVISIONAL PUBLICATION PUBLICATION Foreword Sport is a powerful means by which to engage all children in activities for personal and social development and to help them achieve their full potential. From an early age, sport provides children – including the most marginalized – with the opportunity to develop their physical abilities and health, to socialize, to build leadership skills and to learn as well as to have fun. Furthermore, to engage in play and recreational activities is a child’s right: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 31.1) clearly establishes “the right of the child to … leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child”. To harness the power of sport, and in its role as a champion for children’s right to play, UNICEF has long been a proponent of sport and currently supports more than 263 Sport for Development (S4D) initiatives in 99 countries around the world. Yet, despite these many initiatives, S4D remains largely untapped as a tool to optimize outcomes for children, to help them access their rights and to contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and child-related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To remedy this situation, there is a critical need for high-quality research and evidence on how S4D initiatives work, what they achieve and how they can complement existing programmes and empower the most vulnerable children across the globe. This report aims to address the dearth of evidence on the implementation and impact of S4D policy and programming for children. To do this, the report assesses, systematizes and maps existing evidence on S4D policies and programmes through desk-based research. Quality counts, so each chapter first assesses the evidence for its conceptual coherence, methodological and analytical strength, relevance/ generalizability to the S4D field at large, and ethical considerations, before discussing the main messages and recommendations to come out of the evidence. The report represents the first stage in a two-phase research project that focuses on four key outcome areas closely linked to the SDGs: education, social inclusion, child protection and empowerment. For each outcome area, the report sheds light on the strengths of child- focused S4D initiatives, the main challenges faced by the S4D sector, and recommendations for practitioners, policymakers and researchers to consider when designing and implementing programmes to improve the lives of children and young people. The intention is to strengthen the evidence base for cross-national learning and, through this, revive the global focus on S4D as a key intervention to address the needs and rights of PROVISIONALchildren and young people in all countries. PROVISIONAL PUBLICATION PUBLICATION 2 GETTING INTO THE GAME Acknowledgements This report was prepared by a team of researchers at the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, Florence, Italy. The project was managed by Dominic Richardson and coordinated by Juliana Zapata, and the report written by Nadia Jessop, Cirenia Chavez and Juliana Zapata. Sarah Fuller provided critical research assistance and support to the team, and Claire Akehurst provided invaluable administrative support. The team would like to recognize the direction of Priscilla Idele (Acting Director, UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti), Annabelle McDougall and Shweta Dahiya (UNICEF Division of Private Fundraising and Partnerships); members of the Spanish National Committee for UNICEF, including Rocío Vincente Senra, Laia Ruich and Quima Oliver i Ricart; and the many Innocenti colleagues who have supported this process. Invaluable editorial and communications support was provided by Dale Rutstein, Sarah Marchant, Kathleen Sullivan and Sarah Crowe (UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti) and Jacquetta Hayes (UNICEF Division of Private Fundraising and Partnerships). The team is also indebted to members of the project’s Research Management Committee, who provided invaluable guidance, reviews and insights during this first phase of the research, including: Aisha Al-Said Albella (Barça Foundation), Cora Burnett (University of Johannesburg, South Africa), Fred Coalter (University of Stirling, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Giovanni Di Cola (International Labour Organization) and Liz Twyford (UNICEF UK). The team is also grateful to both the UNICEF regional and country office colleagues who made time in their busy schedules to provide details of their S4D programming, and to the representatives of the many organizations and initiatives around the world who took the time to complete the Sport for Development Programming Survey and the UNICEF Country Office Sport for Development Survey. Specific thanks go to the Brazil Country Office (Mario Volpi, Youth and Adolescent Development Specialist, and Augusto Lepre de Souza, Programme Officer), Ghana Country Office (Aarti Saihjee, Chief of Education) and South Africa Country Office (Wycliffe Otieno, Chief of Education, and Ayanda Ndlovu, Education Officer) and to the following S4D initiatives that helped to pilot the UNICEF Sport for Development Programming Survey developed for this study: Sports Caravan (Brazil), Altus Sport (South Africa) and Amandla Development (South Africa). Finally, this work would not have been possible without the financial support of the Barça Foundation. The team is sincerely appreciative of both the Foundation’s vision and the collaboration it enjoyed with Maria PROVISIONAL Vallès,PROVISIONAL Aisha Al-Said Albella and their entire team at the Foundation. PUBLICATION PUBLICATION GETTING INTO THE GAME 3 Contents Foreword 2 3.5. Conclusions and recommendations 73 Acknowledgements 3 References 76 Acronyms and initialisms 5 Annex 3.A. Summary of literature on education 78 Executive summary 7 and sport [to be completed] Chapter 1. Sport for Development 11 Chapter 4. Social inclusion and 80 for children Sport for Development for Children 1.1. Introduction 11 4.1. Introduction: Social inclusion and sport 80 1.2. UNICEF and sport for children: 11 4.2. What is social inclusion in the context of S4D? 81 Lessons from the field 4.3. How are sport and social inclusion linked? 82 1.3. Overview of prior research evidence 15 4.4. What does the evidence say? 83 1.4. Existing frameworks 20 4.5. Conclusion and recommendations 99 1.5. Providing answers for children through 21 References 104 evidence-informed S4D programming Annex 4.A. Summary of literature with social 1.6. Methods and analytic strategy 22 inclusion outcomes 106 References 25 Chapter 5. Child protection and 120 Annex 1.A. Target outcomes for S4D programmes: 26 UNICEF country offices, by region Sport for Development Annex 1.B. List of international organizations which 29 5.1. Introduction: Child protection and sport 120 have also produced reports on S4D 5.2. What is child protection in the context of S4D? 121 Annex 1.C. Research evidence quality rating guide 31 5.3. How are sport and child protection linked? 122 5.4. What does the evidence say? 123 Chapter 2. Sport for Development 32 in practice: Voices from the field 5.5. Conclusions and recommendations 135 References 139 2.1. Introduction: Where, what, why, how and 32 Annex 5.A. Summary of literature with child for whom does S4D work? protection outcomes 142 2.2. Where are S4D programmes located? 33 2.3. Who do S4D programmes serve? 36 Chapter 6. Empowerment and 148 2.4. Why sport and what works? 41 Sport for Development 2.5. How does it all work? 47 6.1. Introduction: Empowerment and sport 148 References 56 6.2. What is empowerment in the context of S4D? 149 Annex 2.A. Methods 57 6.3. How are sport