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Sports and Sustainable Development: AFD and Paris 2024

AFD News

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Sports and Development
Paris 2024 - AFD, partenariat
© AFD

Sports and sustainable development – it’s a powerful combination taking flight in France and around the world. Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer of Agence Française de Développement and Tony Estanguet, President of the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, signed an agreement today to cooperate on sports and development projects across a number of countries.

Paris 2024 and AFD have a common ambition: to use the excitement surrounding the Olympic Games for everyone’s benefit. What’s more, this groundbreaking partnership reflects the commitment of Paris 2024 to align the event with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The signing of this agreement represents the coming together of two organizations with the same conviction: that sports can help to build social change. Through this commitment, Paris 2024 is expanding its actions in education, health, gender equality and disability to reach beyond national borders.

Funding for development through sports 

•    Beginning in 2020, a group of 24 athletes leading social and environmental projects in France (8 athletes) and in partner countries (16 athletes) will benefit from an entrepreneurship support program. Female athletes make up at least half of this first group. Between 2020 and 2023, Agence Française de Développement will devote €700,000 to funding the initiative.



•    Over the 2021-2023 period, AFD and Paris 2024 will launch a €3-million call for projects in which sports are used to promote development.  These projects can be led by local stakeholders (NGOs, national Olympic and Paralympic committees) in France’s cooperation priority countries. Priority will be given to projects that aim to promote gender equality through sport and those that promote better integration of people with disabilities through sports. 



•    Local and regional authorities who have received the “Terre de Jeux 2024” label and are leading decentralized cooperation projects related to sport can request funding from AFD as part of the FICOL financing utility. Each project that meets the eligibility requirements could potentially receive funding between €200,000 and €1.5 million, with funding from AFD representing a maximum of 70% of the total cost for the project. 

 

A tried-and-tested partnership

This agreement follows previous partnerships between AFD and Paris 2024, such the Dakar 2022 Youth Olympic Games in Africa. As part of the “Alliance Dioko” led by Paris 2024 in partnership with the IOC, AFD has committed to support the renovation of the facilities for Dakar 2022.

In addition, Paris 2024 and AFD will promote contributions to sustainable development through sports to ensure it becomes a greater priority for international donors and organizations. Agence Française de Développement will specifically mobilize development agencies and banks to integrate more elements of sports in their actions, particularly those related to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We are convinced that sports offer solutions for addressing the major challenges of our times: education, equality, health and social cohesion... We are already working to make this conviction a reality in France, by supporting existing initiatives and developing new projects with key players who work alongside us. Because the Olympic and Paralympic Games are a great universal celebration of brotherhood for all people, we also want to leave a legacy that goes beyond national territories, to ensure sports play their full role in sustainable and human development.

Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024