Safe sport for children
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>View discussions about this entry Country: Belgium
Organization: Panathlon International
Sport: Other
Year the initative began (yyyy) 2004
Project URL: http://www.panathlon.net
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? To convince the world of sport that sport can produce negative effects and that preventive and curative measures are needed to protect children.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? Until 2005, the problem of possible child abuse in the world of sport was not a matter of discussion (Paolo David, Human Rights in Youth Sport, 2005). With its "Declaration on Ethics in Youth Sport", Panathlon International has changed this situation. Not only has the problem been introduced on the agenda, but the international sports world has shown a very positive attitude towards it and a strong will to cooperate.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change? Moral standards are under pressure. Positive values such as health, fitness, perceived competence, self-respect, fun and social interaction are loosing ground to power, honour and money. Because these developments are increasingly affecting children's and youth sport, Panathlon International considers that the limit of what is acceptable has been reached and no longer wishes to infer complicity by remaining silent.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? To study the implementation of the principels of the Declaration, Panathlon International will organise under the patronage of the International Olympic Comittee (IOC) and with te cooperation of the General Assembly of International Sport Federations (GAISF) in november 2008 in Ghent (Belgium) a conference for the international sport federations and national olympic committees.
How do you plan to grow your innovation? By promoting the Declaration not only to the international sport federations but also to the continental and national olympic comittees and to countries, states, provinces and cities.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. The international world of sport on all its levels.
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries? Until now 22 international sport federations, the European Olympic Comittee and the olympic committee of Peru have endorsed the Declartion.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation? The Flemish minister for Sport has granted Panathlon Flanders 40.000 euro for promoting and implementing the Declaration in Flanders; he started a project called «Sport to youngsters measure». With Panathlon and the Flemish Sports Federation he has organised in June 2006 a symposium in Brussels with delegates from the civil authorities, the sports federations, the schools, the media and the sponsors. As a result, the principles of the Declaration will be implemented in the sports legislation
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact? The fact that the world of sport, that never has been known for its self-criticism or for his acceptance of criticism, has the tendency to take a defensive position. Many sports leaders think that to bring these issues into debate, means to harm sport. The contrary is true.
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? By the IOC: yearly subvention to Panathlon International
By Panathlon International: 15.000 euro, administration, contacts with the IOC and the GAISF By the Flemish government: 40.000 euro to implement the Declaration in Flanders, 30.000 euro to organise the conference of november 2008 If known, provide information on your finances and organization. Panathlon International is the non-governmental, non-profit-making, non-political association, without sex or racial distinction, of all Panathlon Clubs. It is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and is a member of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and the International Committee for Fair Play. It is dealing essentially with ethics in sport.
Panathlon International has more than 300 clubs in Europe and South America and is expanding rapidly in the world. Its annual budget is about 700.000 euro. What is the potential demand for your innovation? All international and national sportfederations, all international organisations dealing with sport, the olympic world and all civil authorties.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? Values do not attract money! Everybody talks about values, but nobody is ready to pay for it, because of the absence of "return".
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. In 1995 and 1997 Panathlon organised congresses on the rights of children in sport. Because congresses provide resolutions, not real changes, the Flemish clubs of Panathlon (Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent) formed an ethical commission to study the possibility of implementing these resolutions in the field. The result was the "Pantahlon Declaration on Ethics in Youth Sport" which was accepted immediatly by Panathlon International. The aim was to bring the world of sport together in a consensus conference to accept this Declaration. This conference took place ion Ghent on September 24, 2004 in Ghent (Belgium). In the presence of international experts (Belgium, UK, Switzerland, Holland, Norway, France, Finland) who wrote papers for the conference (published as "Ethics in Youth Sport. Analyses and Recommendations" edited by prof. dr. Van den Auweele) the IOC, UCI (cycling), FIFA (football), FIBA (basketball), CISM (military sport), ISF (school sport) and other federations and organisations accepted the Declaration!
Shortly after that, other international federations endorsed the Declaration. The fact that the world of sport realised the importance of the problem, is a complete change in attitude. Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. Vic De Donder (14-10-1939). Graduated in philosophy (University of Ghent). Journalist (newspaper De Standaard), author (nineteen books in Dutch and French) and vice-president of Panathlon International. Living in Belgium (Giselbertusstraat 8c, 2260 Westerl). Retired.
Contact Information:
Victor De Donder
Vice President Panathlon International (Service Club) Discussions about this entry
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Hello Mr. Donder,
Thank you for submitting your entry to the competition. It is great to include the topic of ethics in the sports for social change discussion. We encourage you to look at other entries that might be of use to you in your study.
All the best,
Dana Frasz
Changemakers