“Sports as a school of life”: Values Education through Sports Youth Program in Egypt

In celebration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (6 April of each year), the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science in the Arab States (Cairo Office) is collaborating with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Egypt and the Egypt National Commission for UNESCO, are implementing a Values Education through Sport (VETS) programme under the slogan “Sports as a school of life”. This sports camp is due to be held in Port-Said between 4-6 April 2019 targeting adolescents from five different Egyptian governorates.

The program has 3 primary objectives:
1. Promoting positive attitudes and values such as sportsmanship and fair play, equality and respect for diversity, community and belonging.
2. Promoting the practice of sport for health and well-being.
3. Building capacities and supporting the acquisition of social and life skills including leadership, teamwork, and communication skills.

Young women and men are active agents of change in the world. They are an asset, having the creativity, the potential and the capacity to make change happen – for themselves, their societies, and the world. To enable them, as they transition to adulthood, to take on their role as change-makers, young persons need to acquire the cognitive, psycho-motor and affective competence that will allow them to respond to local and global challenges. It is important to foster the values and soft skills of young people, which go hand in hand with academic education.

UNESCO works with and for youth to empower them, build their capacities and engage them fully in the development of their societies. Being the United Nations’ lead agency for physical education and sport, UNESCO leverages sport to promote values education among youth.

Sport is a universal language that has the power to motivate individuals to make constructive changes in their own lives and in the lives of others. It plays a significant role in the development of communities, bringing people together to interact, play and engage in conversations that build social harmony. Sport positively impacts on social and economic development, inculcating values and social skills and challenging inequalities in various dimensions: gender, race and disability. “Sport represents the best school of life by teaching young people the skills and values they need to be good citizens” . Sport can instil values such as fairness, teamwork, equality, discipline, inclusion, perseverance and respect.