Youth Charter Calls for Greater Global Commitment to Sport for Development and Peace on United Nations Day
Today, on United Nations Day, the Youth Charter (www.YouthCharter.org) is calling for renewed international commitment to harness the power of sport, art, culture, and digital engagement as essential tools in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advancing global peace, equality, and opportunity for young people.
For over three decades, the Youth Charter has championed the use of sport and culture as vehicles for social change, empowering young people, transforming communities, and building bridges across social, racial, and economic divides. As the world faces increasing conflict, inequality, and environmental challenge, the organisation warns that the global community must act now to reimagine how sport can contribute to peacebuilding and sustainable development.
“The founding principles of the United Nations – ‘peace, human rights, and social justice, must be lived out through practical action at the community level,” said Prof Geoff Thompson MBE FRSA, Founder and Chair of the Youth Charter.
“Sport remains one of the most powerful global languages. It can unite where politics divides, inspire where hope is lost, and engage where traditional systems fail. On this United Nations Day, we call on governments, institutions, and youth movements to reaffirm their commitment to Sport for Development and Peace.”
Aligned with the UN Youth 2030 Strategy, UNESCO’s Fit for Life, and the IOC’s Olympism 365 framework, the Youth Charter’s Community Campus Model demonstrates how local, national, and international collaboration can deliver measurable social impact, promoting education, health, employment, and citizenship outcomes through sport and creative activity.
As part of its ongoing “Global Call 2 Action”, the Youth Charter is urging policymakers, funders, and international agencies to:
- Reinvest in youth development programmes using sport, art, and culture as catalysts for peace and social cohesion.
- Recognise the role of community-led initiatives in achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda.
- Create inclusive pathways for young people to participate in leadership, volunteering, and civic engagement through sport.
- Support cross-sector partnerships that connect education, health, and justice outcomes to sport-based interventions.
“The next five years to 2030 are critical,” added Thompson. “The United Nations and all its partners must ensure that no young person is left behind and that sport continues to be a universal platform for peace, purpose, and progress.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Youth Charter.
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About Youth Charter:
The Youth Charter is a UK registered charity and UN accredited non-governmental organisation. Launched in 1993 as part of the Manchester 2000 Olympic Bid and the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the Youth Charter has Campaigned and Promoted the role and value of sport, art, culture and digital technology in the lives of disaffected young people from disadvantaged communities nationally and internationally. The Youth Charter has a proven track record in the creation and delivery of social and human development programmes with the overall aim of providing young people with an opportunity to develop in life.
Specifically, The Youth Charter Tackles educational non-attainment, health inequality, anti-social behaviour and the negative effects of crime, drugs, gang related activity and racism by applying the ethics of sporting and artistic excellence. These can then be translated to provide social and economic benefits of citizenship, rights responsibilities, with improved education, health, social order, environment and college, university, employment and enterprise.
