Sport, Peace and Development

Sport is a fundamental human right and involves all forms of physical activity that contribute to the development of physical fitness, mental well-being, and social interaction, such as play, recreation, organized or competitive sport, and indigenous sports and games. (United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace, 2003. p. v).

The question is whether we use sport in so far as we should in order to spread peace in the world and help new generations to get to know a new form of activity?

I think not enough, not so much as we should.

The sport can be an amazing thing. Why is like that? I am going to explain how sport can change our lives.

It can bring people of different backgrounds together on the basketball court, football pitch or athletics track, but the experience of playing together in safe and friendly environment that sports offer, truly helps youngsters overcome conflicts between one another.

Youngsters taking part may approach the game as black or white, one religion or another, but whilst on the sports field, they are only team-mates.

The game of course may only last a short while, but for those taking part in it, the experience of having their preconceptions questioned lasts a great deal longer, even for a lifetime.

It’s just like famous tennis player Boris Becker has said, the secret and the strength of sport lies in that “it has its own rules, it knows no skin color, no religion, no boundaries.”

The universal application of sport for peace is not practical; however, the concept of sport for development and peace should be acknowledged more in the international community since it has not been recognized enough and there needs to be a framework which addresses the general principles.

A good example is the foundation of Novak Djokovic that through sport for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, helps to grow, play and develop in a stimulating, creative and safe environment, while learning to respect others and take care of their environment.

This gives the child a chance to face every challenge and be a winner in any field.

United Nations General Assembly has declared April 6th 2013 as the International Day for sports in honor of the memory of the day when they opened the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. Before making a resolution on behalf of all athletes, Djokovic has strongly supported the idea that sport is recognized as a separate activity in the interests of international peace and development.

In the field, the collaboration among international organizations, governments, NGOs and local communities is essential to operate sport based initiatives that work towards development and peace and, moreover, further studies to examine cases that have been implemented in the world are needed in order to create a substantial framework of sport for development and peace programs and its evaluation and improvement.

Nikolina Kunić

Rigid thinking and women empowerment

Woman empowerment: first we need to clarify this term what people think about woman empowerment because there is so misapprehension about this term as people unfortunately take it as western agenda. Empowerment is basically strengthening the spiritual, political, economic, social capacities of an individual and it is a multi-dimensional process through which an individual can exercise their rights freely and can enjoy their lives by having control on them . Women empowerment means that women have the right or control over their lives.

People talk and discuss a lot about women empowerment, but when it comes to practical dimension this term seems vague. There are so many reasons behind this phenomena, especially in our country where people are trapped in so called cultural taboos and obviously great misconceptions of religious teachings regarding women’s rights and their status. It has been seen that people like to talk about famous personalities for instance Fatima Jinah, MalalaYousafZai, Shermeen Obaid Chanai and quote their examples to their daughters and sisters, but when their women want to join any professionby their own choiceor want to excel in their field by availing any golden opportunity or if they want to marry with some who they like, they face so much resistance in their way;so the real problem is that people are so diplomatic. They show themselves broadminded but they don’t even know the meaning of broad-mindedness. They claim that they want to see women progressing in different fields but actually they are trapped badly in rigid thinking and prejudices that prevail in our society, in the end they would suggest their women to stay at home.So here is big question mark for all those people who talk a lot about women’s respect, women empowerment, gender equality and women rights.

Women are human beings, they have rights like men but they cannot exercise their rights like men dobecause people don’t want to accept this reality. Our society never raise questions against men’s empowerment but when it comes to women empowerment people take this term as something alien or strange. People especially male chauvinism resist to accept this reality plus our cultural barriers also play a very negative role in this regard.

With the passage of time a positive change has been observed with respect to women empowerment and gender equality as you can see high enrollment of girls in education sector and in professional sectors as well, so this is a green signal for women to come and prove their abilities and talent to masses. Things seems to change due to women education, social media, print media, awareness campaigns , NGOs working on women issues.These factors give hype to women empowerment.Now,its need of time to empower the women as our economy need more potential to grow. In this regard, women can play a vibrant role by engaging themselves in different sectors that boost the economy.

By Aisha Siddique 

Lahore, Pakistan

You

Are the worst enemy I
will ever face. You
are that man of different
creed or race. You

Am I that different?
Do my eyes disconcert

You? Why you?
You killed her! It was

YOU! Get back here and pay for your sins!
We may lose the battle but you will never win!

You killed her!
You raped me!
You stole my life!
You broke my things!

We will fight, and fight, and fight once more, without any knowledge of what tomorrow brings.
Peace
Is now the caged canary that sings
Set down your guns, open the cage
Watch the bird wash away the rage.

By
Zara Williams-Nicholas

Peacock

Have you ever thought to yourself having only one leg but also being happy and dancing like a peacock is possible? You may call me insane but it's not a foolish question that I am asking as I have seen someone really doing it here in Nepal. Neelam Dhungana, 21, an amputee, who lost her one leg in a tragic bus accident while she was only 15, has the power to dazzle you with her mesmerizing dance performance. I bet, you will start imagining yourself in her shoes and feel miserable for having both legs and still not being able to have those flawless steps like her. Neelam is an exemplar in this mentally handicapped society where, physical disability is associated with failure, with dependency and with not being able to do things (even the regular chores of life).

Neelam as her name suggests, is really like a gem stone (The Blue Sapphire), with a captivating beauty and never ending smile. Her school mates always had a dream of dancing like her as every one used to appreciate her dance moves. Any cultural program at school and Neelam wasn't there; the program wouldn't be interesting, and theywould opine. She was synonymous to a peacock.

Our life is like a Pandora's Box. We never know what tragic surprises it has for us when we open it. The same happened with Neelam when she was just on the edge of her youth. An ambitious dream of being a famous actor, a blissful teenager, thousand youthful aspirations and most of all the best diversion of her life; dancing were all shattered in a road mishap made by a careful driver when she was rightfully walking on her own lane holding the hands of her best buddy. In the tragedy she not only had to lose her friend forever but she even had to mislay all her dreams and lead her remaining life as an amputee with only one leg. When she remembers the very day she says, "I learnt that my leg was amputated only a day after. Though my family members were around me giving me hope, but in private I used to admit the misery and shed tears for the misfortune of not being able to dance any more.
Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel. For her, disability was typical trajectory. After a period of time, she started to adapt to her new situation, and started making much of it. She started dancing even with her one leg without giving notice to others for her happiness as dancing was the ultimate ecstasy of her life. After five years of practice (which wasn't easy), her talent got the limelight on a local stage on the occasion of 'International Day of Persons with Disabilities' a year back with the support of Bhima Khatiwada and Mina Acharya, who too are physically disable; whom Neelam likes to credit. Since then, she has never stepped back from her aspiration of being an actor. "Even if life is sometimes hard, my spouse, parents and mentors have always supported me and helped me become the one-leg dancer of Nepal.", Neelam shares.

We often assume that people with disabilities are unhappy. But in fact we're wrong. Surveys reveal people with disabilities consistently report a quality life as good as, or sometimes even better than that of non-disabled people. Human flourishing is possible even if you lack a major sense like sight, ability to walk, or beingphysically dependent on others. Sometimes, disabled are driven to greater achievements than before. That's why if we presuppose that physical difficulties for people result in misery for them, then we are wrong.

What is more important here is the social blockade rather than the physical impairment itself. It's true that in general, disabled people usually have fewer choices than non-disabled people. Most societies still have limited accessibility for them, which have certainly created some problem for them. Otherwise, special people like Neelam are much better than mentally jammed people of our society.




Yes, it's also true that physical impairment undoubtedly involves greater degrees of misery than average human should endure. Apart from that, there are some examples like Neelam whose transformative life stories teach us an important lesson that human beings are capable of adapting to almost any situation and can march on to triumph, overcoming all the misfortunes. Neelam, even after such misfortune still dances like a peacock.

Written by: Bhawana Shrestha
Country: Nepal

Write 4 Girls

The door slammed. It was a sign for young Diwa to start trembling and shaking. At that point, she was stuck in a dead - end street, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, a husky, dark - haired fellow cast a shadow on the wall; while entering the room. Diwa, now petrified, started praying. From that moment on, everything for her was a blur...except for the bruises on her entire body.

Do you happen to feel the chill running down your spine while reading this? You should, because it is alarming and to be quite upfront, not so frequent. You may not pay much attention, but many other girls in our surroundings crave to be salvaged from the claws of people who own them. Unfortunately, even though we live in the 21st century, that phenomenon is still among us. Those girls are thrown away on the street, made robots for distributing money at an early age. It does not seem or feel right. But the question remains - What should be done?

Girls are often considered as a weaker gender, being put in inferior position. But shouldn't they be treated with care and protected? I bet you can see the irony in that. Imagine your sister, cousin being abused and maltreated by a bully or, if we stretch to extremes, a pimp. You would do anything to change the situation, regardless of the law and regulations. That is how we need to start feeling for all the girls, not just the significant ones. In this theoretically free world, people are open - minded and ready to help by giving tribute to those who deserve. Girls are awarded Nobel Prize because they deserve it, by showing how strong and independent the weak gender can be. That is something I personally, feel proud of. Neglecting the nation she belongs, ethnicity and religion. That does not matter when we have a higher purpose, a goal to chase.

As for Diwa, we need to pray her word gets heard, that she finds her Safe Heaven, her shelter in this harsh world. Hope is something we need to embrace and to cherish, without which we cannot survive. Hope is the one thing that keeps us going. Hope for a better future, for a better life with love, equality and peace. That is what we all long for, is it not?

By

Una Ristic

Issues faced by Young Girls and Women Empowerment

Gender Inequality basically refers to unequal treatment based on sexual orientation. It emerges from differences in socially developed gender roles and additionally organically through hormonal differences. Gender frameworks are regularly hierarchical; gender twofold frameworks may reflect the disparities that show in various measurements of everyday life. Gender Inequality disparity comes from discrepancy, whether experimentally grounded or socially built.

In every aspect of society, gender inequality balance has turned into the norm. All around acknowledged standards of human rights have set the standard for correspondence between women and men. This concept reaches out to the distinguishment that young girls and women are remarkable individuals with rights and duties like those of young men and boys.

Have you ever pondered the lives of young ladies of your age in poorer nations as far and wide as possible? From numerous points of view they are the same: these young girls enjoy in family, attempt to discover time for hanging out with friends, and consider what's on the horizon. Anyway in a few ways the issues and difficulties confronting them are altogether different.

Twenty-five percent of adolescent young ladies in "developing" or low-salary nations live in extreme poverty. It implies that individuals don't have all the basic needs for survival, in the same way as food, water, lodging, home, clothing, education, and health care. 

In numerous nations, young girls are esteemed far short of young men; they don't have the opportunity to go to class, to long for a future career, or have fun time. Envision what your life would be similar to if your parents thought it didn't make sense for young ladies to go to class, get medical consideration, or even get as much foodstuff as young men.

Education: In numerous countries, when young ladies are near to their puberty, their guardians demoralize them from proceeding in school or even pressurize them to drop out, to protect their reputation and marriage prospects. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, just 17 percent of young girls are enlisted in secondary (high) school.

Training = Power: Every year of educating builds a young lady's earning power by 10 to 20 percent, while the return on their secondary education is significantly higher. Additionally, improved education for young girls is interfaced to lower HIV disease rates, lessened baby mortality, and an increment in a country's general for every capita pay.

Work Opportunities: Young women have a harder time finding work than young men and by and large are considered as just for a restricted range of "suitable" occupations like sewing, housekeeping (household), or factory work. These occupations pay less of what the young men's occupations. Young girls are frequently abused by their managers in light of the fact that they have constrained power, security, protection and rights.

Early Marriage: Young Motherhood, Unwanted Pregnancy, and Disease: One in seven young ladies in creating nations get married before age 15, and almost half are married by age 20; regularly, the young ladies are not given a decision in the matter. Married, young ladies go from fathers and siblings to their spouses. Not just do one-third of ladies in creating nations conceive an offspring before age 20, they are much more prone to pass on from pregnancy-related complications than ladies in age of 20.

Their children are likewise at higher danger of illness and death. Substantial extents of these pregnancies are unwanted, since a large portion of these young women need access to legitimate health awareness and birth control. Every year, somewhere around 2 and 4 million girls resort to risky, off and on again fatal, abortion techniques. 

Young Girls and women in late-modern social orders are depicted as those most subordinated to the consumer society. In previous socialist nations, prostitution has offered restricted to acquire the moneynecessary to take part in new consumer ways of life. All through history, young people have been examined as to their demeanour, conduct, sexuality and general behaviour. Moral Panics are frequently structured in West Society .Ex: Teenage Pregnancy and Crime rate expanded due to growing youthful mother population. In Central and South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, one in five births is to a female under age 20. The conception rates for youngsters in this age gathering are additionally high in Latin America and the Caribbean and in East Europe compared and rest of Europe as appeared.

The lifestyles and practices of young ladies and women have changed. Smoking and under-age drinking have ended up more normal and become a norm, and drug use has expanded. A British study -In 1995 demonstrated that one in five females between the ages of 14 and 25 utilized cannabis at any rate once a week, and 22 percent of the 15-to 16-year-old young ladies surveyed had attempted it;11 numerous young ladies apparently related drinking and drug use with sociability and development.

Consistently, more than 14 million young ladies wed before their eighteenth birthday. Early marriage is most common in rural and impoverished territories of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia; however the practice is in no way, shape or form restricted to these regions.

Poverty frequently triggers this practice. Families may trust that an early marriage will secure a young girl's future and honour. Again and again, however, these unions bring about disempowerment, misuse, and early pregnancy – all of which can prompt genuine wellbeing outcomes.

The information is compelling: almost 30% of young ladies matured 15–19 in a marriage or dating relationship have encountered physical and/or sexual violence on account of their intimate partners. Complications joined to pregnancy and labour is the second leading reason for death among these girls.

Early marriage damages a young lady's rights. It adequately closes her Education and her capability to win her living further down in future, helping society's economic and social advancement. It can likewise put her life in danger.


Conclusion 
Girls are needed to be encouraged and backed by other ladies. Occasions bringing ladies and girls together, workshops building self-assurance and respect toward oneself.Displaying persuasive yet aspiring good examples to young ladies who they can look toward and learn from. Raising aspirations of young people and helping them recognise their so they can accomplish positive things in life. We must guarantee equivalent access to education and livelihood opportunities for ladies and young girls. We must challenge social standards that help male power and control over ladies and young girls. We must empower adolescent young ladies with confidence, faith and awareness of various life options. We must work with juvenile young men and young ladies to create equal connections relationship in shared appreciation. We must train parents and schools to teach kids through non-violent practices.

BY
MISHAAL SHAHZAD

Write for Girls

Every young adolescent girl all over the world is being assaulted by society based on her gender, she often gets beaten, raped and in some countries even murdered. It is a huge problem that can cause young girls to feel as if they are not an important part of society and it can destroy their self esteem. I’m sure that every young girl is special in her own unique way and because of that they should be respected and allowed to be who she really is.They are often afraid to talk about that, but when the whole world is silent, even one single voice becomes powerful.
Every girl should have the dignity, respect, education and freedom she deserves. The best way to help young adolescent girls is to unleash their own potential to change the world. God bless those ambitious young adolescent girls who are willing to fight for their rights!
By
Ermina Beganovic