On International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that initiatives by the state government in Jangalmahal district have encouraged girls to take up sports.
Initiatives have helped in bringing social change in once strife-stricken region in the state, added Banerjee.
Banerjee in a tweet said, “Today is International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. #Bengal Government’s initiatives on peace and development through sports in #Jangalmahal, specially encouraging girls to take up sports, has helped in bringing about a social change in the once strife-stricken region”.
Today is International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. #Bengal Government’s initiatives on peace and development through sports in #Jangalmahal, specially encouraging girls to take up sports, has helped in bringing about a social change in the once strife-stricken region
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 6, 2018
The General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 6 April as “International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.”This date commemorates the inauguration, in 1896, of the first Olympic games of the modern era, in Athens (Greece).
According to United Nations, sport as a universal language can be a powerful tool to promote peace, tolerance and understanding by bringing people together across boundaries, cultures and religions.
Its intrinsic values such as teamwork, fairness, discipline, respect for the opponent and the rules of the game are understood all over the world and can be harnessed in the advancement of solidarity, social cohesion and peaceful coexistence.
Sport programmes permit encounters on neutral territory and in an environment where aggression can be controlled, regulated and transformed and hence facilitates rapprochement and reconciliation between opposing parties.
Although sport alone cannot stop or solve an acute conflict, it represents a flexible and cost-effective medium for post-conflict relief work and peace building as well as conflict prevention.