The potential of sport to meet the SDGs
Sport has great social relevance. Its ability to move the masses and make them unite is more than demonstrated. It is a social phenomenon that must be focused on and used to benefit the sustainable development goals set out in the 2030 Agenda.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in sports entities
At street level, sport unites people. The foundation of the vast majority of disciplines is based on respect for the opponent and encourages teamwork.
Children of different ages and sexes come together to be able to play an amateur game, leaving behind any differences. In this sense, it is directly linked to objective 5, on gender equality.
When schools organize extracurricular sports activities, friendly competitions are held on the same campus and with other educational centers. This encourages coexistence and differences tend to disappear
It is undeniable that any physical activity, even practiced alone, benefits personal health by making the body work better, developing physical resistance, activating and secreting a series of hormonal substances with a positive impact on body and mind. Its close relationship with objective 3 of health and well-being is undeniable.
Governments and NGOs articulate various resources so that economic differences do not affect when learning or practicing a sport. Scholarships are even awarded for those who stand out in the practice of any sporting category. In this way, people with a weak economy can receive quality studies.
At a professional level, all the advantages of practicing sports are added to the unconditional attention of the masses. Regardless of the fans of certain sports that come to be considered a cult in many countries, such as football or basketball, the World Cups or the Olympics cover a larger audience.
This global attention is an ideal moment to raise awareness about equality, the need to comply with the SDGs for a better future worldwide, and an unbeatable opportunity to put CSR strategies into practice to promote all of this.
Prestigious clubs create sports schools in underdeveloped countries giving thousands of children the opportunity to receive an education.
Of course, we must add that the media pull of sports stars turns this elite into figures of respect who can promote all this to raise awareness among the world population at all levels. If these representative stars validate the quality of a product or support a political campaign, they can also promote recycling, care for the environment, equality and respect among the masses, goals pursued by various sustainable development goals. Really, sport, in one way or another, can end up influencing all the SDGs.
There is still a long way to go to comply with the 2030 Agenda and without corporate social responsibility it will be more difficult. For this reason we have created DoGood People, to help any type of entity to work with simple goals to gradually change the world and leave no one behind. More informaton here.
