IOC Launch Southeast Asia Sport and Youth Crime Prevention Initiative

The recent launch of the Southeast Asia Sport and Youth Crime Prevention (SYCP) Initiative marks as one of the 45 commitments made to harness sport as a means to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

These commitments, unveiled during the Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World in June, aim to generate over USD 200 million in value over the next four years.

Commenting on the launch of the program, IOC’s Olympism365 associate director, Ollie Dudfield, said: “The SYCP Initiative aims to reinforce the role of sport in youth crime prevention strategies.”

Head of the Social Link Division at AFD, Laureline Triby, added: “We are eager to work with public sectors, the sport movement, and civil society organisations to amplify the role of sport in empowering youth, ultimately building safer and more resilient communities.”

Chief executive of AoS, James Mapstone, concluded: “We’re excited to work alongside the IOC, AFD, and other partners to create a collective impact that aligns policy and practice, building on prior research with the Thailand Institute of Justice to enhance sport’s role in preventing youth crime throughout Southeast Asia.”

Organisations in Lao PDR, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam that are focused on utilising sport for crime prevention among youth are currently invited to apply for a development grant, with all pertinent details accessible through the initiative’s official channels.

A Collaborative Approach to Community Action

The SYCP Initiative is designed to go beyond mere investment by nurturing community-led projects and initiatives. Key components include:

• Building robust national and regional networks that connect stakeholders from the sport and criminal justice sectors, thereby enhancing programme delivery and fostering knowledge exchange.
• Offering training and capacity-building opportunities for professionals involved in youth development, justice, and sport.
• Creating a regional consortium to support continuous learning and cooperation through conferences, webinars, and digital platforms aimed at knowledge-sharing.
• Advocating for evidence-based policies and conducting research that integrates sport into broader strategies for crime prevention and social development.

This initiative exemplifies the fundamental role that sport can play in empowering young people while contributing to community safety.

The Olympism365 Summit highlighted the impact that cross-sector collaboration can have on improving lives, and the SYCP Initiative stands as a concrete example of sport and criminal justice entities combining efforts to bolster youth potential and mitigate factors that contribute to anti-social behaviour and juvenile crime.

The SYCP Initiative will be implemented across Lao PDR, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, coordinated by the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice (AoS). This consortium will engage with a diverse network of national, regional, and international organisations to maximize impact.

The launch of the SYCP Initiative aligns with the IOC’s Olympism365 strategy and AFD’s overarching mission to leverage sport as a tool for advancing the UN SDGs.

Launched during the Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World, held from June 3-5 in Lausanne, Switzerland, this programme reflects the growing collaboration between the IOC and AFD, which have previously supported numerous sport-based initiatives in Africa and other regions, including projects associated with the legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

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