# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
While the Wimbledon Tennis Championship has just ended, some of the world's best athletes' work doesn't end on the court. Martina Hingis, a 2017 winner of the Wimbledon Doubles league, has promoted and discussed her 'fourth career' as an ambassador for Right to Play. Right to Play is one of many nonprofit organizations promoting sports to empower and educate children from poor backgrounds. Here are four organizations ending poverty through sport:

1. Ball to All
Founded in Scottsdale, Arizona, Ball to All is an organization that provides soccer balls for underprivileged children. Founder Ori Eisencreated the charity in 2003 after providing a friend, Nikolas Mangu, with five soccer balls before his travels back to his home country of Kenya. When Nikolas delivered the balls to a local school, the children celebrated the simple gift.
Since the first delivery, Ball to All has delivered 9,426 balls to children of developing nations. Ball to All is one of the organizations ending poverty through sport by providing the basic tools for childhood development. Ball to All ambassadors believes that the organization provides children more than just a tool for play. They also believe, by taking part in sports, children are less likely to be negatively influenced by extremist groups, are made to feel important and are kept out of trouble.

2. Peace Players International
Peace Players International (PPI) uses basketball as a tool to provide unity, education, and inspiration to children around the world. The organization began in Northern Ireland to bridge the divides between religion, prejudice and racism through sport and create greater social cohesion. With great success, the organization spread to 15 countries by 2010 and provided specific programs for each local climate.
In Jerusalem, where violence and political instability frequently reoccur, PPI uses sport to unite Arab and Jewish youth. However, in South Africa, the focus is more on providing safe and successful outcomes through sport for communities impacted by HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse or high unemployment.

In a Sport for Development and Peace report, the U.N. states that for sports programs to be successful in creating change in developing countries, the sport must be all inclusive. PPI does just that by focusing on the groups that would not usually have an opportunity to participate in sports leagues or groups that would not usually play together.

3. Right to Play
Johann Olav Koss, the four-time Olympic medalist, founded Right to Play in 2000. He was inspired by a humanitarian trip to Eritrea, where the children wanted the same as any other child: to play.
The organization uses voluntary coaches to implement sports programs educating children about leadership, health issues and employment opportunities. The programs spread across 20 countries and tailor to the specific scenarios of each country.

By introducing after-school programs to underprivileged areas, Right to Play improved school enrollment and attendance rates. In Rwanda, students who took part in Right to Play's programs maintained a 95 percent attendance rate in school. With this and many other successes, several governments recognize Right to Play as one of the organizations ending poverty through sport.

Every week, Right to Play reaches one million youths around the world with half of the children being young girls. By improving schooling outcomes and providing all-inclusive programs that close the gender gap, Right to Play improves opportunities for children in developing economies and promotes a healthy lifestyle.

4. United Through Sport
The U.K.-based charity United Through Sport focuses on development through sport. With programs in Africa, South America and upcoming in Asia, United Through Sport provides two main programs to underprivileged youth. The Mass Participation Program provides thousands of children the chance to play whilst promoting health and education. Further, the Schools of Excellence program offers top level coaching and schooling necessary for aspiring athletes.
With direct coaching, disadvantaged communities obtain health benefits, emotional development and life skills such as decision making and leadership. The organization also delivers an interactive curriculum through sport on serious topics affecting the communities involved. The organization has taught more than 100,000 hours of HIV and AIDS prevention through sports curriculum. Additionally, by providing professional opportunities that would not otherwise be available to the individuals of the program, United Through Sport provides a pathway for dedicated participants to receive scholarships at top local and international schools.

United Through Sport works with more than 56,000 children and 90 percent of participants of its programs saw academic improvements. The organization has proven to not only provide the basics of child development but also the tools to better the future economic success of the individuals involved. Through its programs, United Through Sport stands as one of the organizations ending poverty through sport.

Sport is being used as a tool for development. While Ball to All, PPI, Right to Play and United Through Sport can't solve all the issues of developing countries, sport can create positive change. By educating the young and promoting equality for all genders, religions, and creeds, the organizations form inclusive economies. The United Nations has stated that sport is a human right and essential for childhood development. By using sport to reduce poverty, individuals of every age can lead a healthier and more fulfilling life.

- Tess Hinteregger

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Listing of 4 Organizations Ending Poverty Through Sport

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
While the Wimbledon Tennis Championship has just ended, some of the world's best athletes' work doesn't end on the court. Martina Hingis, a 2017 winner of the Wimbledon Doubles league, has promoted and discussed her 'fourth career' as an ambassador for Right to Play.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
About The MAD Foundation | Volunteer Projects and Adventures | Groups, Individuals, Charity Challenges | Madventurer

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Madventurer strives to be the number one provider of sustainable and ethical volunteer projects and challenging adventures worldwide our ethos is 'developing together'.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
United Through Sport | Transforming Lives Through Sport

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
United Through Sport empowers young people through sport, education and health across Africa, the Caribbean and beyond.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Humans have practiced and participated in sports for thousands of years. Because sports have existed for so long and can be found in some form everywhere on Earth, they are a great way to join different societies and bring people together. Here are 7 of the ways sports can bridge cultures.
-Shared Communication
Not speaking the same language as someone can seem like an impossible hurdle to overcome when trying to communicate. One way to bridge this gap is to engage in some shared physical activity. After only a few minutes of either learning a local sport or participating in a shared one, you will start to see the non-verbal forms of communication you use to speak. This communication can be used off the field as well.
-Bring Peace
The passion individuals have for sports is so strong that it can overcome cultural tension. There are several instances of peace through sports, but one of the most famous happened in 1995 when Nelson Mandela helped South Africans differing cultures avoid a civil war through their shared passion for Rugby.
-Put Big and Small Societies on an Even Playing Field
Sometimes the hardest cultural gap to overcome is one of size. Sports solve this problem by taking two different countries and cultures and putting them on a level playing field, allowing each player and team just as good of a chance of as anyone else. It's how Trinidad and Tobago, a country with a population of just over 1.3 million can play in the same tournament as China, with a population of more than 1.3 billion, which is what happened in the 2006 World Cup.
-Allow You to Travel Abroad and Be Immersed in a Different Culture
Programs like GLA's Costa Rica: Sports Service Adventure(1) uses teens shared passion for soccer and sports to learn and connect with local communities. The program gives teens an opportunity to live on a coastal village while creating new friendships with local youths all through a shared passion for sports.
-Share History
Sharing the history of anthers culture can be a huge stepping stone to better understanding each other and how societal differences originally started. Learning about why certain rules in shared sports are different between cultures and how that came to be is a great way to jump start the conversation.
-Build Friendships
Branching out and getting to know people from other cultures can be difficult if you share nothing in common. Playing sports together is a great way to get to know people of all cultures and build life-long friendships.
-Teach Rules to Live By
One of the biggest rules that you learn with sports is that of sportsmanship and respecting and admiring your opponents and teammates alike. When you take this outlook and apply it to the world, it allows you to see different cultures and people as equals, no matter their background or education. Athletic activity can build a foundation to live by, and one that can shape the world in positive ways as it brings all cultures together with the shared passion of sports.

Contributed by Alex Anderson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Humans have practiced and participated in sports for thousands of years. Because sports have existed for so long and can be found in some form everywhere on Earth, they are a great way to join different societies and bring people together. Here are 7 of the ways sports can bridge cultures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF SPORT BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER, TEACHES TEAMWORK, TOLERANCE, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS AT LAUNCH OF INTERNATIONAL YEAR | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sport is a universal language. At its best it can bring people together, no matter what their origin, background, religious beliefs or economic status. And when young people participate in sports or have access to physical education, they can experience real exhilaration even as they learn the ideals of teamwork and tolerance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the south of Guatemala City is a suburb that people call "Zone 21." It's one of the poorest areas in the country and one of the most dangerous too. In the middle of this concrete jungle is a children's playground. But no child is playing, the area is strangely quiet. Even though school is out for the day, no child dares to hang out here alone. The crime and murder rate is high and kids playing here alone would run the risk of being kidnapped.

Today things are different though. Social worker Diego Saravia is standing at the corner of the playground and is waiting for the local kids. Today, a special afternoon of sport has been organized.

"Getting involved in sport means kids will hopefully not join gangs, or get into crime," Saravia says. "Perhaps we can rescue a few kids this way. They should make something of their lives."

One of the children involved today is Javier. The 10 year old arrives - along with around 100 girls and boys his age - with a beaming smile. He says he's been looking forward to playing outside today, especially football and basketball. "But today I'm going to start with a jumping game."

The kids of "Zone 21" learn athletics with help from Germany

It's all part of a "Mini-Atletismo" project, which is supported both by the Guatemalan national athletics assocation and the city. The kids are surrounded by police as they play.
One afternoon without fear
The ideas and the sessions in the program come from Oliver Scheer, an expert with the German Olympics Sports Confederation (DOSB). "It's not about top level sport here, it's about using sport as a social instrument to create integration," Scheer explains. "We pull the kids out of their daily lives for a few hours and then you see smiling faces everywhere. That's great."

After completing an obstacle course, young Javier explains the situation in "Zone 21."

"It can get pretty bad here. A few kids come from 16th street and shoot their guns sometimes," he says. But before he can continue he returns to his group. It seems clear: for this afternoon at least, the worry and the fear is forgotten.

This example from Guatemala shows, what role sport can play in society: It helps people get active, gives kids (and adults) new freedom or brings them together, it provides options and allows people to move up the social tree. But most of all: it's a method of interacting that everyone can engage in and understand.

Rudi Gutendorf has travelled the world and coached in over 20 countries
Sport as a human right
At international sports events it's the same story. Teams and athletes face off against each other even if they don't understand the same language. The competition itself has its own type of communication, which is understandable for everyone.

The United Nations has long observed sport - and playing for children - as a human right, which needs to be "respected and enforced worldwide." The organization says that sport is a "low-cost and high-impact tool in humanitarian, development and peace-building efforts." Germany's Foreign Ministry is also looking to capitalize on this potential too.

For more than five decades, the ministry has worked together with the DOSB, the German Football Association (DFB) and other German sports associations to set up sports projects overseas. The ministry can now boast of over 1300 initiatives, from coach Rudi Gutendorf's work in Tunisian football in 1961 (back when it all started) until today, with projects in Zambia, Guatemala, Ethiopia and the Philippines. In each project it's not just about improving top level sport. The focus also lies on creating chances for a better quality of life for locals.
A bridge between two nations?
At the International Olympic Committee (IOC) the power of sport is also well known. Even if the modern Olympic Games has long since become a billion-dollar industry, the main concept about bringing people together for sporting endeavour remains omnipresent.

"Sport is truly the only area of human existence which has achieved universal law," according to IOC president Thomas Bach. "We are all the same and respect the same rules."

And, if you are guided by the same rules, then at least you have something in common, as the example of North and South Korea shows. The two countries have been opposed since the 1940s and both have huge military capabilities.

North Korea and South Korea face off on the pitch at the Asian Games

Many diplomatic missions have failed between the two sides, but the UN is now helping to plan a new event to bring them together. At the Universiade at Gwangju in South Korea in July, the host nation will welcome North Korean students.

"We want as many North Korean students to take part in that as possible," says Willi Lemke, Special Adviser to the UN on Sport for Development and Peace, who is helping to plan the occasion.

"I used to be involved in organizing sports in a divided Germany. My hope is that one day, Korea will be re-united. Sport can build bridges," he said in an exclusive interview with DW.

Whether it is building bridges, bringing people together or letting kids forget their troubles for one afternoon: the real potential of sport isn't just about going higher, faster and further. Sport brings people together and gives people opportunity. Quite simply: Sport is a language that everyone understands.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A language that everyone understands | How sports can bring people together around the world | DW | 16.06.2015

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the south of Guatemala City is a suburb that people call "Zone 21." It's one of the poorest areas in the country and one of the most dangerous too. In the middle of this concrete jungle is a children's playground. But no child is playing, the area is strangely quiet.

# data[].attributes.body
Olympics - development through sport

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." Fundamental Principles of Olympism, Olympic Charter.

The IOC President, Thomas Bach, regularly emphasizes that "sport is not just physical activity; it promotes health and helps prevent, or even cure, the diseases of modern civilization. It also is an educational tool which fosters cognitive development; teaches social behaviour; and helps to integrate communities".

The IOC cooperates with partners, including numerous United Nations agencies, as well as international governmental and nongovernmental institutions, on projects which use sport as a tool for development and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

National Olympic Committees also support these activities locally through their sports expertise and networks. Several International Federations have also developed initiatives in this field.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
to help build a better world through sport

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
the ioc devises programmes that offer concrete answers to social inequalities and poverty. the ioc supports numerous projects in cooperation with organisations specialising in humanitarian aid and development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
the united nations and olympic movement stakeholders.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." Fundamental Principles of Olympism, Olympic Charter.

# data[].attributes.body
Benefits to the community

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) was renamed the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport. The portfolios of Local Government, and Racing and Gaming (Liquor) joined the reshaped Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety (LGIRS), which replaces DEMIRS.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Clearinghouse : Sport for Community Development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The broader benefits of sport go beyond the personal benefits derived from participation. Sport is a popular focal point for strategies that underpin government and non-government organisational policies for community development and social inclusion.