UNESCO and International Association of Sports Newspapers (IASN) join forces to promote sport values

Via SportAndDev:

UNESCO and the International Association of Sports Newspapers (IASN) will join forces to issue quarterly e-bulletins starting in February 2011 to raise awareness of sport’s power and potential in development and peace initiatives, and to encourage young people to become leaders of positive change in their communities.
The bulletins, which will be posted on the UNESCO and IASN websites and circulated through the organizations’ networks, will focus on four topics: sport as a development tool, with a particular focus on Africa; youth empowerment and sport; sport and the fight against racism; and sport and violence prevention.

Each issue will feature a lead article related to current sports events, an interview with a sports personality, a profile of a UNESCO Champion for Sport, items on sports facts and upcoming meetings, a section focused on sport and inclusion, and an article written by a young person on the issue’s main topic.

The bulletins will be the first project under a new partnership between UNESCO’s Section for Youth, Sport and Physical Education and IASN. Together they will develop joint initiatives to broaden the public’s awareness of sport’s potential as a mediator of peace and an accelerator of development. UNESCO is the United Nations’ lead agency for Physical Education and Sport (PES) and supports a number of initiatives that use sports activities to strengthen social ties and networks, and to promote ideals of peace, solidarity, non-violence, tolerance and justice.

The International Association of Sports Newspapers (IASN) was founded in 2008 by leading sports newspapers L'Equipe (France), La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy), Marca and Mundo Deportivo (Spain), Olé (Argentina) and Lance! (Brazil). Its aim is to promote the values of sport and the interests and freedom of the sports press. The IASN has expanded to represent, today, an average aggregate readership of 15 million worldwide, added to a much larger audience from its members’ other media (45 million for websites, plus radio, TV, etc).