The Olympism365: Sport for a Better World summit will be held next week in Lausanne, Switzerland, with safe sport at the top of its agenda. This event seeks to highlight the role of sport in advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and assess actions taken to ensure safer sporting environments at elite and grassroots levels.
During plenary and thematic sessions, participants will discuss how to strengthen collective efforts to eradicate violence and support mental health and well-being through sport programs. Kirsty Burrows, Associate Director for Health, Medicine and Science at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), highlighted the importance of addressing these complex challenges and their impact on public and athlete health.
The IOC has for two decades led the development of safe sport policies, ensuring that athletes can train and compete in physically and psychologically safe environments. Recent initiatives include an artificial intelligence-powered cyber abuse protection service implemented at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Global initiatives and local action
The IOC has worked in collaboration with International Federations to build a collective movement to address the problem of abuse in sport. In 2023, a needs assessment identified the importance of strengthening responses at the local level, leading to the launch of the Regional Safe Sport Centers Initiative. This initiative, supported by a $10 million fund per Olympiad, seeks to establish regional safeguarding centers in Southern Africa and the Pacific Islands.
In addition, the IOC has developed tools and workshops to train Olympic Movement stakeholders in improving their safeguarding policies and procedures. According to Burrows, “a holistic approach is increasingly being integrated as a core responsibility throughout the Olympic Movement.”
New tools to strengthen safeguarding
New tools designed to support safeguarding and mental health efforts in the Olympic Movement will be presented at the summit. These include an International Safe Sport Framework, a Mental Health Awareness Course and a Safeguarding Focal Point Training Course. These tools aim to facilitate early recognition of concerns, localized responses and harmonization of international standards.
Co-creation workshops during the summit will also foster commitments to strengthen collaboration and collective action in the fight against these social problems through sport.
