This year’s International Day of Sports for Development and Peace was celebrated with a sports day that was organised by the Utawala Star Sports Club in partnership with Save the Earth Global and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Kenya at the Starehe Boys Center in Nairobi.
The International Day of Sports for Development and Peace is a day set by UNESCO during the UN general assembly in August 2013 and this year’s theme was “Sports promotion for peaceful and inclusivity society”.
Under the guidance of Utawala Star Sports Club founder Caroline Wangari and Save the Earth Global head Wangari Irungu, the event brought together over 300 learners from Nairobi and Machakos counties aged between 10 and 15 years old who had an opportunity to play and learn more about different sports in Kenya which included Tchoukball, Lacrosse, Kabaddi, khokho and football.
The training was facilitated by coaches from respective federations that run the different sports in a bid to let the children not only learn about the sports but also encourage an interest in the sports.
The event was graced by different officials who included George Stanley from UNESCO Kenya, Hari Mwahari, the director of sports in the Nairobi City County Government, Kifaru primary school Headteacher Madam Rose Mwaga, Dagoretti sub county sports officer Madam Joy among others.
The event was supported by the Nairobi City County Government and Jinsiangu as well as the participating schools.
The schools that took part in the event included Kifaru primary, Githunguri primary, St John’s Baptist Gikabu, Mwangaza Primary school, Utawala secondary school and Mavoko Boys. The clubs that took part included Michael May FA academy, MyFugo foundation, Nairobi County academy, Joy Love Academy, Young kings and Britania FC .
During the event, participants also had an open forum with panelists to discuss sports impact on the society on the topics delving into Sports for development facilitated by Lynnet, Sports for climate action, Sports for Peace that was facilitated by Aaron Green, Sports for mental wellness by Christine Atieno and Sports for inclusive by Frankie Kibangedi.
A discussion of intersex as a way of creating awareness of the intersex person in the community was also held.