The potential of sports to effectively convey messages and influence behavior has been increasingly recognized in recent years. In November 2003, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 58/5 entitled “Sports as a means to promote Education, Health, Development and Peace” where it recognized the power of sport to contribute to human development . On Saturday 28th October, the power of Sports to promote the MDGs was clearly illustrated on the UN Sports and MDGs Day in Samoa. At the invitation of the UN Country Team in Samoa, ten teams from the government, donor, health sector, corporate, media, regional organisations and NGO community joined the UN Country Team based in Samoa to celebrate UN Day 2006 by participating in sporting events (soccer matches, tug-of-war, rugby obstacle course race and sack race) and special MDGs competitions to promote the MDGs.
The Sports and MDGs day was co-hosted by the United Nations Country Team based in Samoa and the Samoa Football (Soccer) Federation at their National JS Blatter Soccer Grounds. The Sports and MDGs Day was about having fun through sports but also learning about the Millennium Development Goals. For this purpose there were three key prizes for the Sports and MDGs Day.
i. Fair Play Prize (for the team that showed great team spirit and enthusiasm throughout the day)
ii. MDGs Champions Prize (for the team that was best in promoting their MDG)
MDGs Chamapions Winning criteria: Accumulated points scored for:
* Most fun and innovative Team MDG Banner!
* Most MDG smart Team with most points from MDGs Quiz throughout the day
iii. Overall sports wining team (by all four sports accumulated points)
Adopt and Promote an MDG Campaign
The participating teams were asked to join the UN "Adopt and Promote an MDG Campaign" where each participating team(s) were asked to promote one of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) throughout the day as allocated below.
ALLOCATION OF TEAMS TO THE MDGS
| Millennium Development Goal | TEAM |
| 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger | The UN and Government of Samoa TALAVOU Joint Youth Programme & MWCSD |
| 2. Achieve universal primary education | South Pacific Games Authority & Samoa Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture |
| 3. Promote gender quality and empower women | Media representatives |
| 4. Reduce child mortality | Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ Bank) |
| 5. Improve maternal health | Samoa Tel |
| 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other major diseases | Samoa Football (Soccer) Federation & MedCEN
|
| 7. Environmental sustainability | South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and UN |
| 8. Global partnerships | Samoa Ministry of Foreign Affairs & UN |
All the teams were given UN MDGs t-shirts to use for the day to promote the MDGs and all particpated in two specifric MDGs team competitions
1) MDGs Team Banner competition was held on the day. Eeach team was given a blank banner with spray paints and asked to prepare their MDGs Banner based on the MDGs Information Kit that was distributed to their teams on the day.
2) MDGs Quiz competion. The teams also participated in a Quiz Competition that tested their knowledge of the MDGs and to encourage them to read the MDGs information documents to encourage learning about the MDGs.
Fantastic public turnout!
The public turnout of an estimated 500 people was much more than the 100 expected and media coverage was extensive. The day started with the MDGs Banner Competition between the participating teams followed by a Junior Soccer match between children of UN staff and the “Samoa fotty kids” a selection of children from the Samoa Football Federation children’s soccer programme. All children were given MDGs t-shirts, MDGs caps and ANZ/SPREP “save the turtle” bags so they can promote the MDGs and advocate for saving the turtles with their parents (checkout photo gallery on top menu under Media room).
Fun in the sun
From all accounts, the day was filled with fun and laughter and had team activities for people of all shapes, sizes, fitness levels and ages. Children enjoyed the junior soccer games, bouncy castle and the Rugby Obstacle Race Course and the adults took to the sack races, tug of war and soccer matches with great spirits and merriment. Participants reported that they were still struggling to recover from the physical activities a few days after the event.
The Sports and MDGs Day closed with barbeque and drinks hosted by the United Nations Country Team based in Samoa and the Samoa Football Soccer Federation.
Award winners
The Team MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty made up of the TALAVOU joint youth programme and Ministry of Women Community and Social Development (MWCSD) were dominant in the fun sports events and took out the overall winner of the sports competition. They also took the other major award for Fair Play given their teamspirt and comraide throughout the games.
The Team MDG 2: Achieve Univeral Primary Education made up of the South Pacific Games Authority (SPGA) and the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culutre were awarded the MDGs Champions award for their winning efforts in both the MDGs Banner Competition and the MDGs Quiz.
The Team MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality from ANZ Bank won the soccer competition.
The Team MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability made up of the SPREP and UN won the tug-of-war competition
The Team MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty made up of TALAVOU and MWCSD won the Rugby Obstacle Course Challenge competition
The Team MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases made up of the Samoa Football Soccer Federation and MedCEN won the scak race competition.
Click here to find out all results of the UN Sports and MDGs Day are posted on the UNDP webiste.
THANKS TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS AND PARTNERS
The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Samoa would like to extend our grateful appreciation for the enthusiastic participation and good spirits showed by our invited guests to the UN Sports and MDGs Day on Saturday 28th October. It was a pleasure to see the 8 teams and their supporters, each promoting a Millennium Development Goal (MDG), take to the soccer matches including the fun events of tug-of-war, sack races and obstacle course with good cheer and merriment. Also the participation in our MDGs awareness activities was exceptional and we are truly grateful for the support we received.
The UNCT in Samoa hope everybody had fun, learned a little more about the United Nations, the MDGs, and the role of sports in development including the South Pacific Games in 2007 that the government of Samoa is hosting.
The UNCT in Samoa wish to extend special thanks to our prize sponsors of:
SamoaTel, ANZ, the South Pacific Games Authority and the Samoa Football
Soccer Federation. Furthermore credit is given to our media colleagues for the extensive coverage of our event on your Radio and TV-stations. Thanks to Newsline for the very well written editorial on Sunday the 29th of October.
Faafetai tele and the UNCT hope for similar participation in our future UN MDGs events.