When it comes to maximising sport’s contribution to sustainable development - and in particular the UN SDGs - “tracking progress is key to ensuring successful outcomes”.
That was the key message from Dr Lin Sambili, Adviser in the Sport for Development and Peace team at The Commonwealth Secretariat as she helped to open the 2025 Sport Development Network (SDN) Online Convention.
ENABLER
ConnectSport CIC was proud to partner with The Commonwealth Secretariat in hosting the Convention, which saw more than 100 colleagues from across sport, sport for development and academia convene to debate the role of sport in meeting the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) 10 years after their publication.
Sport plays a significant role in sustainable development, with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledging sport as an important enabler of the SDGs. Yet, despite significant initiatives worldwide, evidence shows that only 18% of the global goals have been realised.
Addressing the theme ‘Beyond 2030: Converging and collaborating to strengthen sport’s contribution to sustainable development' speakers talked through some of the practical steps and solutions to the fast-approaching deadline.
In the opening presentation, Dr Ben Farai Sanders, Executive Director of the International Platform on Sport and Development (sportanddev.org), and Dr Lin Sambili emphasised that, while “civil society actors are the true heroes of the sector”, at present there is “too big a gap between policy and practice”. Dr Sanders added that new research is not always necessary – better analysis of existing data on how and why sport can make a difference is useful.
PROGRESS
Dr Lin Sambili added: “At the Commonwealth Secretariat we believe that tracking progress is key to ensuring successful outcomes, which is why we will soon be publishing our Global Sport and Sustainable Development Goals Impact Report. Our work focusing on three ‘Ps’ – producing policy, developing people, and measuring progress. Producing policy enables us to drive the agenda forward, and that is why it was so inspiring to hear the many contributions at the Sport Development Network's annual convention.”
Other speakers included James Mapstone, Chief Executive of the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice, who highlighted the role of the SDGs in helping to bridge the gap between policy and practice, and Dr Richard Giulianotti, who as UNESCO Chair in Sport, Physical Activity and Education for Development, outlined how it has been highlighting sport as a “smart investment” and promoting its social return on investment.
Every story that ConnectSport publishes is aligned to the SDGs, and its founder and managing director Simon Lansley commented: “At ConnectSport CIC, we are proud to support any and all UK-based actors committed to strengthening the contribution of sport and physical activity to sustainable development. This was a brilliant convention with some insightful and timely interventions from a number of colleagues who have been championing this cause for many years. We look forward to working alongside the SDN to continue this important conversation.”
The SDN convention took place one week before the UN Global Compact Network UK marked the 10th anniversary of the publication of the SDGs. Read more about ‘Flag Day’ on Thursday 25th September.
To watch videos of the speakers' presentations, please visit the bespoke online hub which ConnectSport developed and managed to promote the SDN Online Convention. For further information, contact hello@connectsport.co.uk
Pic credit: UN Global Compact Network UK
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