Centre for Sport and Human Rights Addresses European Parliament on the Future of Sport

20 November 2018

By Alison Biscoe, Manager, Programmes & Partnerships, Centre for Sport and Human Rights

At the European Parliament Sub-Committee on Human Rights on 19th November 2018, Alison Biscoe outlined the work and planned progress of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, addressing three points in particular:

1. In the Centre’s view, what is the opportunity that sport creates for promoting human rights?

2. How has the Centre worked to capitalise on this opportunity and achieve meaningful progress?

3. How will the Centre respond to challenges and continue to push for progress moving forward?

She concluded:

"The Centre will respond to new challenges by continuing to work collectively and focusing on different areas of intervention. A first critical task for us all is to respond effectively to known human rights risks of those most affected by sport... Ensuring the voices of these groups are heard and systematically integrated into not only the Centre’s work, but the policies and actions of the world of sport more broadly, will be critical in ensuring meaningful progress going forward. 
"A second key task ahead is working constructively with actors responsible for implementation and financing, in other words the sports bodies, local organising committees, governments, and businesses. They must have the necessary knowledge and capacity to be able to truly embed human rights due diligence processes throughout their operations."

Read the full speech here