Sport for development (2013)

Sport for Development (SfD) aspires to achieve social impact by using sport, play and physical activity. The Dutch organizations NSA International, the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) and the Dutch office of Right To Play, implementing partners of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the field of SfD, wish to further improve the quality and effectiveness of their SfD programs. For this sound evidence and more insight in working mechanisms between sport and development are needed. They asked Utrecht University to compose an independent academic document in response to the question: What is the potential of sport as a tool for development and how to benefit from that in the best possible way? To answer this question, Utrecht University has done a thorough policy and academic literature review, including the analysis of more than 200 articles, books and policy documents over the 1998-2013 period.