Friday, 6 April 2018 marked the 5^th annual United Nations International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP). To celebrate IDSDP in Cambodia, this year, we played games with our students that involved problem solving ways in which war and conflict could be reduced or prevented, aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (global goals) around reduced inequalities (SDG10), sustainable cities and communities (SDG11) and peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG16) .

Here at ISF Cambodia, we believe that sport and play are human rights that must be respected and promoted worldwide. We’re delighted to see the recognition by the United Nations of the positive influence that sport can have on the advancement of human rights, and social and economic development as we strive to put a focus on the importance of sport every day.

We believe that sport should not be considered a luxury within any society but rather a crucial investment tool in education, human development, healthy lifestyles and a peaceful world particularly in developing countries such as Cambodia. We’re proud to reach almost 4,000 children with our Football Programme, catering to boys, girls and young adults of all abilities.

In our IDSDP games we used footballs to represent violent actions such as shooting, fighting and destruction, armed players (armed with footballs) were asked to attack unarmed players (those without footballs) by hitting them with the ball below the knee. To prevent the conflict and avoid being hit, unarmed players had to yell any words which represented ways to stop war, for example: no fighting; no shooting; no weapons. Another way to protect the unarmed was to call in protection. Players in bibs represented protective acts such as anti-conflict treaties and were required to stand between the unarmed and armed players. All of this, through the use of sport, encouraged the students to think critically about issues of war, conflict and peace-building.