On UN International Youth Day 2025, the Youth Charter has issued a powerful Global Call to Action urging the global community to unite in a renewed, evidence-based effort to harness Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The call comes as the world enters the final five years before the 2030 deadline, with progress on many SDG targets stalled or reversing. The Youth Charter, a UK-based charity with a 32-year track record of engaging, equipping, and empowering young people in over 40 countries warns that without urgent, coordinated action, a generation’s potential will be lost.
“The next five years are critical. We must go beyond symbolic gestures and deliver real, measurable impact,” said Professor Geoff Thompson MBE FRSA DL, Founder and Chair of the Youth Charter. “Sport is not an optional extra – it is an essential driver of health, education, equality, peace, and opportunity. We need a truly collective, global effort to make the 2030 Goals a reality for every young person.”
Three Urgent Priorities in the Global Call to Action
The Youth Charter’s Global Call to Action, first launched in 2019 as #LegacyOpportunity4All, calls for:
- Mobilising a Global SDP Fund – dedicated, transparently managed funding to invest in community-led projects that directly address SDG targets.
- Empowering Authentic Leadership – supporting grassroots social coaches, mentors, and youth leaders with training, resources, and recognition.
- Embedding Evidence and Accountability – aligning all initiatives with SDG indicators and publishing verifiable impact data
Evidence of Impact
The Youth Charter’s work since 1993 has demonstrated sport’s contribution to multiple SDGs:
- SDG 3 (Health): Reducing youth obesity, improving mental health, increasing life expectancy.
- SDG 4 (Education): Improving school attendance and attainment through sport-linked learning.
- SDG 5 (Gender Equality): Expanding access and leadership opportunities for young women in sport.
- SDG 8 (Decent Work): Creating employment pathways through coaching qualifications and event volunteering.
- SDG 11 (Sustainable Communities): Reducing crime and revitalising neighbourhoods through Community Campuses.
- SDG 16 (Peace): Using sport to build trust, reduce violence, and foster reconciliation in conflict-affected areas.
- SDG 17 (Partnerships): Forging cross-sector alliances between governments, NGOs, sports bodies, and business.
International Reach
From Moss Side in Manchester to Soweto in South Africa, from Islamabad in Pakistan to Louisville in the USA, the Youth Charter has worked with governments, sports organisations, and communities to deliver sustainable change. Programmes such as the Social Coach Leadership Programme and the Community Campus Model have been replicated across continents, creating safe spaces, skills, and opportunities for young people.
UN International Youth Day 2025: A Moment for Collective Action
The Youth Charter’s International Youth Day essay, “From Rhetoric to Reality: A Global Call to Action for Sport for Development and Peace”, has been submitted to UN and IOC leadership and is available as a public briefing. It calls on:
- Governments to embed sport in national youth strategies.
- International Institutions to coordinate global SDP policy and practice.
- Private Sector and Philanthropy to invest strategically in grassroots sport.
- Youth Leaders to design and lead locally driven, SDG-aligned projects.
- Academia to provide robust, independent impact evaluation.
