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With Beyond Sport United and the Global Awards now just under two months away, we’re taking a 10th anniversary look back at some of our past winners, and how they have progressed with the support of Beyond Sport and our Foundation.
We have been supporting organisations for many years that use sport to promote peace and social justice in their communities – the Latin American baseball program, Groupo Internacional de Paz (GIP), is one of those organisations.
GIP won our 2017 Sport for Peace and Social Justice Award for their program, Mi Vida es un Diamante (MVD), or “My Life is a Diamond.” The program, which operates in Colombia and Mexico, targets children and youth at risk of being recruited by armed groups in post-conflict areas. MVD uses baseball as a means to reach at-risk individuals and break intergenerational cycles of violence. Their innovative curriculum emphasizes leadership and empathy, all while enriching the sense of community through sporting events.
Colombia has suffered from over a half century of armed conflict. In areas lacking strong institutions, high levels of social exclusion persist, leaving children and young people to be the main targets of illegal recruitment by armed groups. MVD aims to develop critical thinking skills in its participants allowing them to peacefully resolve conflict situations.
MVD was launched in 2010 thanks to a collaboration with international non-profit Peace & Sport. Since 2012, GIP has worked with the Colombian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Sports to design and implementing the national sport-for-development program based off the successes of MVD.
In 2016, over 550 youth participated in the MVD program in both Colombia and Mexico. The specially-trained coaches lead participants through baseball training sessions, where life skills are woven into sports activities.
Thanks to Beyond Sport funding, the organization was able to train and provide additional technical support to baseball trainers from 10 municipalities in Colombia and two in Mexico. There, the baseball coaches strengthened their abilities in MVD methodology for the peacebuilding process in the communities where they will further develop the project.
In addition to the funding, GIP has benefitted from the platform given to them through Beyond Sport. Following their recognition at our Global Awards, Academic experts and international organizations have contacted them to form partnerships. They have also capitalized on the Beyond Sport business support package, particularly working closely with Upshot to develop their Monitoring and Evaluation system.
Mi Vida es un Diamante stands for Global Goal 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
If the Global Goals are achieved, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030. Beyond Sport believes that using sport is an effective and game-changing approach to make this happen.
From September 12 – 13, we’ll hold our 2018 Beyond Sport United and Global Awards in New York City. Join us to hear directly from more organizations who are using sport to drive social change in communities across the globe — all with a special focus on youth engagement, leadership and social activism. We’ll be awarding over $350,000 to the most innovative projects using sports to address the UN SDGs, so don’t miss your chance to see who wins this year’s awards!
Make sure to secure your spot today!
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