Basketball Experience: Supporting education and awareness-raising through sports

The practice of sport is now recognized for its virtues in terms of personal development, the sharing of universal values, integration, cohesion, and awareness of the importance of citizenship. Sport can therefore play a central role in key development issues by contributing directly to the achievement of at least 12 of the 17 UN SDGs.

Although UNESCO considers physical education and sport to be a fundamental right for all, many African education systems lack the sporting infrastructure, qualified teachers and financial resources to carry it out.

This project is part of the AFDxNBA partnership signed in June 2018. The aim of the project is twofold: to build momentum for sport in African schools and cities and to raise awareness among governments and communities of the benefits of sport for the health and personal development of young people. The project revolves around three priorities: 

• Building and renovating basketball courts in four African countries
• Implementing basketball-related socio-educational programs linked to the SDGs
• Managing and using the project to maximize awareness of the SDGs through sport.

Expertise France is implementing this project with the support of a local NGO in charge of the educational programs in each country, and a communication agency in charge of promoting the project. 

In each country, the NGO combines basketball sessions with education and awareness-raising sessions on SDG-related issues (citizenship, gender equality, waste management) and also organizes competitions between program participants. These activities take place in schools and at sports facilities designed specifically for the AFDxNBA project.

• Development of local sports facilities
• Training for coaches and sports educators in the use of sport as a vehicle for education
• Raising of awareness about the SDGs among beneficiaries, informing communities about the benefits of regular participation in sport