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Using Sports and Culture to Promote Social Cohesion
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In the run-up to the publication of AFD’s 2020 activity reports on cultural and creative industries and sports and development, AFD examines the importance of using these vital sectors to strengthen social cohesion and advance towards the fulfilment of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
AFD Group’s 100% Social Link commitment – which seeks to reduce multi-faceted inequalities and improve the well-being of local communities – guides all of AFD's strategies in order to enable the advent of more equitable, prosperous societies. It’s a strategy that is paired with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN.
See also: AFD’s 100% Social Cohesion strategy
In 2020, two key areas of intervention illustrate this commitment: Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) and Sports and Development. These projects alone represent a total of about 100 projects, mostly in Africa.
AFD and the cultural and creative industries
The CCI sector is a powerful tool for inclusive local development. Culture has a clear, positive impact on both the social and economic aspects of public life, and is a source of employment, especially for youth and women.
CCI support is structured around four focus areas:
- Cultural infrastructure and facilities
- Professional training for cultural professions
- Cultural entrepreneurship
- Cultural policies and governance
See also: Cultural and Creative Industries - Activity Report 2020 (in French – English version to come)
In 2020, AFD committed €66.7 million to cultural and creative industries, an increase of 272% since 2019.
AFD's commitments to culture in 2020
Since 2018, AFD has supported 28 CCI projects, primarily concentrated in Africa in the form of grants to upgrade infrastructure and improve training.
Improving infrastructure plays a critical role in achieving SDG #11 (Making cities and human settlements inclusive, resilient, and sustainable). With the support of the European Union, AFD has financed the renovation of the Ciné Guimbi in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso for a total of €1.5 million. An initiative that fosters the economic ecosystem on a regional scale and promotes the continent's artistic creation.
The development of creative industries also requires the professionalization of the sector's stakeholders. The training project for cultural heritage professions in Morocco is a prime example. Funded to the tune of €300,000, this program aims to support the National Museums Foundation (FNM) in structuring the sector to promote its development.
Sports as a vehicle for equality among communities
AFD has made sport a central focus of its operations as part of a Sports and Development strategy first adopted in February 2019. This strategy promotes sports for everyone by encouraging access to sports and defending gender equality.
The Sports and Development actions aim to support five sub--sectors:
- Local infrastructure and activities.
- Sports in schools.
- Sports and gender.
- Reinforcement of the sports and association network.
- Governance and strategy for the sector
See also: Sports and Development - Activity Report 2019-2020 (in French – English version to come)
AFD's ambition was tangibly reflected in the launch of the Sport en Commun platform at the 2020 Finance en Commun summit, a pan-African program aimed at improving dialog between the worlds of sports and development finance. AFD has thus committed €48.2 million to 20 projects in the sports industry during 2019-2020, representing a 48% increase compared to the previous period.
AFD's commitments to sports in 2020
AFD is mainly involved in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions via financing infrastructure for the French Overseas Provinces, but remains highly focused on Africa.
An illustrative example is the Basketball Education and Awareness project, co-financed with the NBA and currently deployed in Morocco and Nigeria. This partnership made it possible to bring together donors and key stakeholders in international sports.
AFD also co-financed the Women Champions project with FIFA. This program helps promote girls' leadership through the game of soccer, and integrates SDG #5 (Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls). It is also in line with AFD Group's commitment to developing the practice of sports in a safe environment for young girls: schools.
In this way, AFD continues to boost its capacity to provide support to these sectors in local communities, especially by promoting partnerships through co-financing with international stakeholders.