In the beginning

United Nations

Something happened that led the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ( UNODC) and the Qatar Olympic Committee ( QOC) to join forces to create a fund that would use sport to teach young people about healthy life skills. For years UNODC had been concerned about the growing use of illegal drugs among adolescents and wanted to find a novel way to reach youth at risk before they are tempted into substance abuse as well as to help those taking drugs to drop the habit. In 1988 at a Drug Abuse Prevention Forum held in the scenic Town of Banff in Alberta, Canada, a number of youth groups presented programmes that used sports as a medium to interact with young people. That approach caught UNODC's attention and at a subsequent youth workshop in Rome in November 2000, the youth-in-sport approach was explored in some depth. The outcome of this forum  was the widely used guide, " SPORT: using sport for drug abuse prevention  (pdf)", that today community-based organizations follow in creating and running amateur youth-in-sport programmes around the globe.

The youth message continued to echo through the chambers of the United Nations system that eventually elevated sport as a vehicle for social and economic development. This advance gave greater meaning to a number of General Assembly resolutions that had earlier endorsed the Olympic Truce and pushed for closer relations with the International Olympic Committee ( IOC). On the ground, or more appropriately, the playings fields and courts, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at local, national and international levels had started partnering with United Nations funds and programmes to organize and promote development, health, human rights and peace through sporting events. A further milestone was achieved in 2001 when the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed, for the first time, a Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace. By 2005, the youth-in-sport message had earned the endorsement of the United Nations General Assembly when it declared that year to be the International Year of Sport and Physical Education.

Qatar Olympic Committee

On a separate track, the QOC, which was founded in 1979, has as its vision becoming "a leading nation in bringing the world together through sport". It soon expanded operations in Qatar to bring sport and physical recreational activity to men, women and children. In time the QOC soon began to give sport development assistance to other countries, with the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia and Lebanon being among the first beneficiaries. The QOC's motto: Sport for Life, led it in search of opportunities to help young people to become involved with sport. That quest led the QOC and UNODC's paths to cross.

In 2003, when UNODC was looking for a host for a Football Without Borders camp in order to promote better regional understanding, security and dialogue through young people from Iraq and Kuwait, the QOC generously offered Doha as the venue and paid for the event. Teams from Qatar and Jordan participated for a total of 80 boys between the ages of 12 and 14 years. This event also brought together the Executive Director of UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, FIFA's President, Sepp Blatter, and the President of the Asian Olympic Committee, Mohamed Bin Hammam to help kickoff the the camp. The success of this inaugural camp received the seal of approval of the Heir Apparent of the State of Qatar, H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and the QOC and UNODC joined forces to create the Global Sport Fund to promote sport for youth around the world. A 10-year partnership agreement was concluded in November 2005 between the two organizations that gave birth to the Fund through an initial donation from the State of Qatar.

The GSF developed a programme that captured the principles and ideals that were put into practice at the Football Without Borders camp. The young footballers, some of whom were from countries that had been at war with each other, played matches with each other on the basis of respect and tolerance for each other on the field. The players attended classroom sessions where trainers led discussions on making ethical choices and reinforcing social skills considered important as they went through adolescence. Today the GSF programme is grounded on the value of amateur sport as a resource for human development and consists of the following components:

• practicing an organized sport for adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 years
• exploring the opportunities sport provide to provide physical and mental exercise, play, have fun, socialize with others, test skills, work in teams, etc.
• following codes of conduct that strengthen respects for oneself, teammates and coaches, opponents and the rules of the game (play fair!)
• adhering to the principle of competing in the spirit of the game, not just wanting to win
• enhancing life skills training in areas as communication, decision-making, assertiveness, anger and stress management, etc.
• raising awareness as to the dangers of drugs and substance abuse and behaviours that can lead to delinquency
• training for coaches and mentors
• focussing on youngsters having fun in play

Another valuable outcome of this camp was the development of a training module, the "Coaches' Guide for Using Sport to Teach Healthy Life Skills", that coaches, teachers and organizations use worldwide.

In October 2007, the first GSF Youth Camp was held in Jounieh in Lebanon that saw the participation of 74 boys and girls and 22 coaches from seven countries (Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority, Oman, Qatar and Yemen). The result of that effort led the QOC to support an increase in its financial support for the Fund.  This expansion will see up to a total of seven camps being run in the coming months in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Central Europe. Each camp will be have up to 100 boys and girls and 25 coaches and mentors from different countries participating in a week-long programme of activities. Graduates of the camps are expected to return to their communities and help to pass on the experience to their peers. Additionally, financial grants are awarded to non-governmental organizations to run youth-in-sport programmes that incorporate the GSF ideals in communities to bring sports to more youth around the world.

Read more about aspects of the programme under other topics on this website.