UNOCT event in Doha launches youth-focused campaign

The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) summoned a high-level roundtable presenting the achievements of sport values-based initiatives for preventing violent extremism (PVE) while highlighting ongoing efforts on securing major sport events from terrorism threats.

Organized by UNOCT’s Global Sports Programme on the margins of the 2022 Doha Forum and co-hosted by Qatar, the hybrid event gathered Member States (represented through their national focal points), international organizations, sport federations and civil society organizations.

At the event, UNOCT announced a Sport for PVE Global Awareness Campaign with the support of FIFA Foundation CEO Youri Djorkaeff, renowned marathon runner Tegla Loroupe, as well as international football legends Luis Figo and Tim Cahill. During her intervention, Tegla Loroupe stressed that “Sport gives us the opportunity to run through our problems, rather than away from them.

A panel discussion on the specific outcomes of the Global Sports Programme featured representatives from UNOCT, UNAOC, UNICRI, and ICSS and discussed the tools and initiatives developed by the Global Sports Programme across its security and PVE workstreams.

These include global guides covering the security of major sporting events and the use of sport-based values to prevent violent extremism, a handbook on the integration of sport-based values for PVE purposes into the planning of major sporting events, a global grant initiative supporting civil society organizations implementing sport-based PVE activities, and national focal point networks.