sports

A crowd watching a football game inside Wembley Stadium in England. (September 2016)
Unsplash/Mitch Rosen

WHO backs football body FIFA’s #ReachOut campaign for mental health

2 August 2021
Health

The world football body, FIFA, launched a UN-backed campaign on Monday designed to raise awareness of potentially damaging mental health issues, and encourage people everywhere to seek help when they need it.

Football for reconciliation, an event held between people involved the Colombian peace process.
UNVMC/Jennifer Moreno

Guterres highlights power of sport for inclusive, sustainable future

6 April 2021
SDGs

The United Nations Secretary-General on Tuesday urged everyone involved in the sport sector to help advance climate action, combat discrimination and prejudice, and ensure that global sporting events leave a positive legacy. 

South Sudan Under-23 A and B football teams battled it out in a fierce competition for supremacy while also sharing messages of peace and unity with fans during a match in the capital, Juba, in 2019 (file photo).
UNMISS/Flickr

UN and partners promote sport as a tool to prevent violent extremism

18 September 2020
Peace and Security

Ambassadors, senior UN officials, representatives of global sports organizations, and managers of some of the world’s top athletes met virtually on Friday to underline the role that sport can play in combating violent extremism and radicalization. 

Teenage girls play chess at school in Sana'a, Yemen.
© UNICEF/Moohialdin Fuad

First-ever World Chess Day, helps calm nerves during COVID-19 pandemic

20 July 2020
Culture and Education

With the COVID-19 pandemic leading to a pause for most sport worldwide, the UN has been celebrating a highly-competitive game that you can play safely indoors or online – with the added bonus of helping reduce anxiety, and improving mental health: Monday marks the first ever World Chess Day.

A crowd watching a football game inside Wembley Stadium in England.
Unsplash/Mitch Rosen

Global initiative launched to keep top sports events safe from terrorism

3 February 2020
Peace and Security

Representatives from international sporting federations and the private sector joined with ambassadors at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday to launch a global programme aimed at safeguarding major sporting events from terrorism-related threats. 

Peruvian and Venezuelan children have fun during the launch of “The Ball Has No Flags”. (August 2019)
IOM Peru/Karla Cervantes

Football is ‘refuge for those who have left everything’; UN initiative aims to bolster well-being of refugee, migrant children in Peru

27 August 2019
Migrants and Refugees

Sport brings people together “regardless of conditions or flags”, a senior United Nations official in Perú said on Tuesday referring to a new initiative launched over this past weekend to promote the well-being of children and youth in Lima’s refugee and migrant communities through football. 

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledges the importance of sports for social progress as well as an important enabler of sustainable development.
UNIC Tokyo/Takashi Okano

Weeding corruption out of sport an investment in development: UN crime-fighting agency

5 June 2018
Law and Crime Prevention

Sports scandals, including allegations of endemic corruption and the involvement of organized crime, threaten to undermine the sector’s potential to contribute to peace and global development, a senior United Nations official said on Tuesday

A girl passes a ball during a drill at basketball training session in Mogadishu, Somalia in 2013. Banned under the extremist group Al Shabaab, basketball is once again making a resurgence in Mogadishu.
UN Photo/Tobin Jones

With fair play, tolerance and team spirit, sport can score for peace and development, say UN officials

9 April 2018
SDGs

The United Nations can make its voice heard on the power of sport in promoting both peace and development, a senior UN official said Monday, urging participants at a special Headquarters event to “bring out our inner sports fans,” and harness sport as a force for positive change.

A girl takes a shot during a basketball training session in Mogadishu, Somalia.
UN Photo/Tobin Jones

Sport is force of social empowerment and an engine for equality – UNESCO

6 April 2017
There is no more powerful platform for promoting shared values than sport, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, said in a message marking the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (centre) meets with the Olympic Refugee Team at the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
UN Photo/Mark Garten

In Brazil, UN chief encourages Olympic Refugee Team to 'show strength,' inspire the world

4 August 2016
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today paid a visit to the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he encouraged refugee athletes to show the world their strengths.