South Africa chairs the AU committee on PCRD for Sudan and has been involved in several other initiatives in countries emerging from conflict. On the same theme, the launch of an innovative Sport for Peace Programme, aimed at promoting reconciliation and development, is regarded by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special adviser on sport for development and peace, Adolf Ogi, as "an essential tool for creating peace, national reconciliation and harmony". Being a universal language that crosses all boundaries, sport provides a neutral ground for people to come together, it provides communities with the opportunity to reconcile and it teaches important values such as respect, tolerance, solidarity, teamwork and fairness, says Ogi.
The value of sport in mitigation of the effects of conflict lies in its characteristics. One such characteristic is sport's uniting vision. The objective of sport is its single preoccupation with the desire to win. For a country to eject itself from a dismal war-torn situation, cooperation amongst its peoples is an absolute necessity. Sport in a war-torn country has the capacity of projecting the entire state towards that single desire to win, or at least pre-occupy people with the idea that they can win. A common mission and vision also provides people with a valuable lesson in cohesion - like a team that works towards a common purpose, a country is able to work towards stability. Another characteristic of sport that flows from that of a common mission and vision - and is therefore helpful to countries emerging from conflict - is teamwork. Introduction of team sport in countries under stress helps to build this crucial trait.
