SRC adopts UN development goals

Bukhosi Mangena Sports Correspondent
THE Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) Bulawayo will adopt the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at their Youth Education through Sport (YES) Games provincial qualifiers. The YES Games will be held in Chinhoyi from December 5-8 while the provincials are set for November. The SDGs are a build-up on the Millennium Development Goals and were launched at the Rio+20 Conference at the beginning of this month with the aim of ending poverty and ensuring prosperity for all.

SRC Bulawayo coordinator Sam Dzvimbu said they were going to incorporate goals one, three and five in their preparations to ensure that they raise awareness of issues affecting young people through the language of sport.

Goal number one advocates for the ending of poverty in all its forms everywhere whilst goal three pushes for a healthy lifestyle and wellbeing for people of all ages.

Goal number five seeks to achieve gender equality and empowerment for women and girls.

“We are definitely going to adopt these goals in our preparation to ensure that we raise a responsible generation through sport. We are mostly interested in three goals which can be implemented easily through sport,” said Dzvimbu.

“To ensure gender equality, we have introduced soccer and volleyball for girls in addition to netball. Through sport, we are also embracing goal three, which encourages a healthy lifestyle and goal number one, which is against poverty.”

Dzvimbu said they were planning to implement their plan nationally if the pilot project succeeds.

“If we are successful, I believe we will adopt these goals at a national level because it is vital that we start laying a good foundation for our future generations,” he said.

The YES Games were introduced by the SRC in 1999 as a way of imparting life skills to youths through sport.