Maximising the development potential of sport Sport is among the Commonwealth’s highest profile shared traditions and most valuable assets. Yet employing sport as a catalyst for social and economic development is underutilised in many Commonwealth countries. The full potential of using sport as a sustainable development tool is only fully realised during the ‘two weeks’ of the Commonwealth Games, and then only for a small percentage of Commonwealth citizens. This project seeks to extend the positive affect of sport in the Commonwealth from this two-week window to have an on-going and sustainable impact on the more than two billion citizens of the Commonwealth. The project will contribute to this aim by directly strengthening public policy frameworks in almost a quarter of Commonwealth member countries, building the capacity of public sector officials and other key stakeholders to implement Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) policy and raise awareness of the importance and value of sport contributing to the SDGs. 

A growing evidence base, including foundational work by the Secretariat on sport and the SDGs, has shown that the intentional use of sport-based policy and programming can make effective and cost efficient contributions to a number of specific sustainable development goal (SDG) targets. Among these are the following result areas that will be critical in ensuring the Commonwealth’s two billion citizens  fulfil their potential with dignity and equality in a healthy environment:
addressing gender based discrimination and improving gender equitable leadership (SDG 5.1 & 5.5);
reducing mortality from noncommunicable disease (SDG 3.4);
enhancing non-formal education and the breadth of teacher training (SDG 4.7 and 4.C);
social, economic and political inclusion of all (SDG 10.2 & 10.3);
promoting accessible and inclusive public space (SDG 11.7); 
providing safe and inclusive environments for children and young people (SDG 16.1 & 16.2).

Policy frameworks and public official capacity developed through this project will be orientated toward these SDG targets.

Sport is, however, a malleable tool. It can also negatively impact on people’s dignity, equality, promoting a healthy environment and on environmental sustainability.  This project will therefore also strength sport-related policy frameworks focused on addressing the following issues in sport that have a detrimental impact on sustainable development:
governance and corruption in sport (SDG 16.6 & 16.7);
Sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources (SDG 12.2)
gender-based violence and discrimination (SDG 5.1 & 5.2); and,
child abuse, violence and other rights abuses (SDG 16.2). 

Establishing effective public policy frameworks and building the capacity of public officials in Sport for Development and Peace is essential in order to maximise the positive potential of sport, and limit possible negative impacts in Commonwealth communities. The Commonwealth Secretariat is a recognised leader in this work and established a solid foundation for success during the 2013-17 Strategic Plan period. This project will build on this base to ensure the positive potential of sport to contribute to sustainable development is realised in more member countries.

In the context of COVID-19, the final year of the project will incorporate planning, resourcing and evaluating the response, recovery and long term impact of sport in response to pandemic into results focused on establishing effective public policy frameworks and building the capacity of public officials