The Kick Project
How Sport for Development and Peace works?
How sports - like football - generate peace and development?
What is the proof of concept?
Football is our go-to sport. There's a few reasons for that.
For instance, it's the most international sport we know,
it's easily understood, it can be played by anyone and
it takes little equipment or set-up.
But another important reason we like to go with football is that it has certain characteristics that make it particularly useful as a peace tool.
Sport for instance those living as refugees or as newly arrived migrants helps to provide a space for people from similar communities to get together in a light and informal manner.
The regenerative power of having fun, particularly for younger members of a community, should not be underestimated.
It is one of the characteristics of war and many forms of violence that there is an absence of normal, commonly accepted rules.
Sport offers an alternative to this.
In many societies sports clubs are used as central points for the community.
Not only can they be the site of actual sporting activity, which in itself brings the community together, the location is often seen as a proxy space for both formal and informal community gatherings.
