ABSTRACT
Despite long-held beliefs concerning the capacity of sports participation for promoting holistic health and well-being, it is only in the last decade or so that a concerted effort has been seen to (re)mobilise sports to achieve broad human and social development goals, whether this be for deprived communities of high- or low-income countries (Kidd, 2008; United Nations, 2003). This global awakening to sport's capacity to contribute to achieving development goals is apparent through the rapid increase in numbers of dedicated initiatives aimed at addressing specific aspects of under-development. For example, at the time of writing this chapter, the International Platform on Sport for Development and Peace had officially registered 2,146 individuals and 141 projects involved in the sport for development and peace (SDP) movement. Additionally, there were 366 organisations worldwide that had officially registered with the same platform – an estimated 100 per cent growth compared with 2008 (also see evidence of this proliferation through other activities such as conferences and online debates on the website for the International Platform on Sport for Development and Peace: www.sportanddev.org). However, given that many SDP initiatives operating within low-income countries have limited Internet access, it is safe to state that there may be many unaccounted for initiatives. For instance, only eleven of the over ninety SDP initiatives operating in Lusaka (Zambia's capital) are registered with the platform website. Notwithstanding such omissions, this global intensification of SDP activity is now recognised as an emerging sector, an academic field of study and a global social movement (Kidd, 2008). Indeed the SDP movement's alignment with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1 signals this global nature; and, although, of course, sport is unable to achieve the MDGs alone, nevertheless it is considered a potentially valuable component in addressing global development challenges (SDP IWG, 2008).
