No one left behind. Beyond Sport and the UN SDGs
Last year the Beyond Sport Foundation awarded more than $350,000 to organizations around the world who are using innovative ways to make the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) a reality through sport. In our milestone 10th Anniversary year, we remained firm in our belief that sport is not only an enabler of positive social change, but it is also a catalyst. Read on to learn why sustainable development and shared value is at the heart of our organization, and in all that we promote, celebrate and support across the globe.
In 2015, 193 countries in the United Nations General Assembly agreed on a way forward to end the most pressing global crises, including extreme poverty, inequality, health and climate change – all by the year 2030. This ‘Agenda 2030’ includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets to mobilize a global effort to improve lives.
Our Founder and President Nick Keller has always felt that sport can be used as a platform to affect change, and to realize the Global Goals. We can use it as a tool to improve the welfare of the planet and its people. Through its values, we can teach teamwork, leadership, humility, tenacity and determination. But we also use sport as a way to shine a light on social issues, harnessing its influence and reach to draw attention to matters that are impacting society.
Since Beyond Sport works globally to use sport to instigate social change, leverage innovation, promote sustainable development, incite shared value and create commercial expansion, these Global Goals and updated targets became the perfect guiding framework to realize our core values on the world's stage.
Beyond Sport maintains that using sport is an effective and game-changing approach to achieve these Global Goals. Through our Foundation, the Beyond Sport Global Awards celebrate, support, raise awareness and provide funding for ways sport is being used to help make these Global Goals for sustainable development a reality. Categories range from the Sport for Quality Education and Employment Award, to the Sport for Equality Award, to the Sport Climate Action Award.
Examples of winning organizations include a baseball program in Colombia that shelters young children at risk from armed conflict, a football project creating fairly paid and ethical employment in numerous regions of Africa through the manufacturing and selling of sports balls, and a volleyball course in Myanmar that is sparking a movement of girls with leadership skills to advocate for their own rights and a future in a community where gender inequality is rife.
They Beyond Sport Foundation and its board of trustees ensure, through our awards process, that we are able to unearth and effectively support the best organizations around the world that align with the Global Goals.
Learn more about the new 2019 Global Awards. Entries open April 8.