British Council Serbia organised a one-day conference on Sport for Development on Tuesday 24 March 2009. Speakers came from the UK, Turkey, Switzerland and Israel and there were over 140 participants from Serbia. Participants included policy makers and practitioners from a wide range of sports related fields: education, youth workers, media, sports clubs, sports associations, Ministries of Youth and Sport and of Educations. The event was organised together with UNICEF in Serbia.

The aim of the conference was to share best practice, create cross-border institutional and individual links and influence policy decisions. Immediate meetings were set up with UK participants for the following day with local institutions. The conference contained numerous examples of organisations harnessing the power of sport for social change and development.

There were numerous highlights:

We heard about the range of activities carried out by the Manchester United Foundation. Their Study Support Centre works with children who are often less motivated by formal education on reading and writing, ecology awareness, healthy eating and lifestyles and intercultural understanding.

There was a poignant example from 'Red Star' Belgrade on international football youth camps in Foca in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a town which suffered particularly badly during the 1992-95 war. We heard from UNICEF about International Inspirations, which the British Council is working on corporately with UNICEF and is all about 2012 and its legacy.

Gazi Nujidat from ‘Football for Peace’ in Israel, who works actively with our office there, gave an inspirational presentation on sport for inclusion.

For more information about this project, please contact us.