Olympic values education programme

Empowering youth through sport

1. 
   In both rural and urban settings sport sessions can be combined with the teaching of health and life skills as well as peer education workshops, fundraising activities, leadership clinics, discussion forums on sex and sexuality, drama and art workshops.
   
2. 
   Youth leaders can be trained to facilitate sport sessions for children and other youth. Children and youth are more likely to absorb information from other young people.
   

Empowering children through sport

1. 
   Reach out to children from varying backgrounds: orphaned and vulnerable children, those living with HIV and AIDS, children with disabilities, working children, street children and children whose families have been displaced by war or famine.
   
2. 
   Mobilise parents and other adult stakeholders to participate in discussion forums and events.
   

Empowering females through sport

1. 
   Secure equality of opportunity for girls and women to participate in activities of their own choice, including sports that have traditionally been male-only; acknowledge and celebrate difference by promoting physical activities such as indigenous movement forms, aerobics and dance.²
   
2. 
   Emphasise and enhance the development of social cohesion as well as skills development. For example, sport and community leadership clinics or referee courses in popular community sports (e.g. football, netball, volleyball, basketball) can be offered.
   
3. 
   Integrate fundraising and income generation activities to promote self-confidence and assertiveness.
   

Cultural exchanges and exploring traditions

1. 
   Give youth the opportunity to express their emotions and thoughts through dance, song, drama, role-play, art and storytelling. Invite elders in the community to teach and share their experiences and knowledge of traditional culture.
   
2. 
   Facilitate cultural exchanges with the youth of other countries. These exchanges will help young people better understand and appreciate both different cultures and their own.
   

Olympic Youth Development Centre, Lusaka, Zambia


Olympic Values Education and your community

Plan and prepare community spaces for sports participation

The concept of what makes a sports facility varies from continent to continent. In Europe, ever since ancient times, the stadium has been the central focus for sporting activity. However, in Ethiopia, the country’s champion runners train in the mountains, 2,000m above sea level. Meanwhile, in Guatemala City, a patch of level ground in a crowded hillside settlement serves as the “gymnasium” for the local boxers. And Hong Kong’s champion rope skippers can practise almost anywhere.
At the community level, sport and physical activities do not require expensive sport facilities. Parks, grassy fields, courtyards, hillsides, a street free of traffic or a sandy beach can all serve as the venues for physical activities.
Nonetheless, modern sports such as hockey, volleyball and tennis, with their complex rules and different levels of competition, require specific types of venue and equipment.
The IOC Sport for Hope³ programme supports community projects to build multifunctional sports centres in developing countries such as Zambia and Haiti.
The purpose of these centres is:

• 
  to give young people the chance to practise sport and develop their bodies, wills and minds in keeping with the Olympic spirit;
  
• 
  to offer athletes modern and professional training facilities;
  
• 
  to support coaches and sports administrators;
  
• 
  to organise sports competitions;
  
• 
  to provide the local community with a space for communal activities, and thereby contribute to social development; and
  
• 
  to provide health services.
  

Educational realities and opportunities


Educational realities and opportunities
Political, religious and educational systems around the world vary, as do economic conditions. All of these factors will have a bearing on how educators approach their task.