Patrice Evra: "Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics shows how much trust there is now in Africa"
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Laureus Sport for Good have announced a ground-breaking collaboration that will see both organisations each invest USD 1 million into a two-year programme to advance youth education and employability through sport in Africa.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Laureus Sport for Good have announced a ground-breaking collaboration that will see both organisations each invest USD 1 million into a two-year programme to advance youth education and employability through sport in Africa.
The two bodies will work with a network of locally-led organisations that are using sport to develop young people’s transferable skills.
This, in turn, will improve their lives through ensuring that they are better equipped to take up jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.
“The Laureus organisation is very unique. It was founded by John Rupert and Nelson Mandela who recognized the power of sport to change lives, and to impact particularly young people,” Novak Djokovic told Olympics.com at the Laureus World Sports Awards.
“The foundation has affected more than seven million young people around the world through sports, helping them avoid all the social ills that streets represent.”
Addressing local needs
In establishing this new collaboration, IOC and Laureus also consulted extensively with 36 local, continental and global organisations to identify needs, opportunities and solutions for strengthening youth education, employability and sustainability through sport within Africa.
Several sport-based projects have already been engaged, such as the Malaika Community Centre – a facility in Kalebuka, a village in the south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, offering health, literacy, and sports programmes to more than 5,000 youth and adults.
"It's hugely important. I think sport at grassroot level and community level makes a huge difference," Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill told Olympics.com. "It's not just about trying to climb your way to elite sport. It's how do you bring people together, how do you give them skills through sport that they can use in different areas of their lives? And particularly when they're facing challenges as well, sport can really make a huge difference to not only the way you feel physically, but mentally."
MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 22: Novak Djokovic accepts the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award on stage during the Laureus World Sports Awards at the GalerÃa De Cristal on April 22,2024 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images for Laureus)
An Olympic sports event will be hosted in Africa for the first time at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.
The Games represent a catalyst for a sporting, social, cultural, educational and economic transformation that will create new hope, opportunities and confidence for young people.
“Grassroots sports is the foundation for any sport globally," Laureus Academy Member Bryan Habana told Olympics.com. "Coming from South Africa, where we're probably the most fortunate, particularly from a rugby perspective, to understand the power that sport has to not only level the playing field, but give young boys and girls that little bit of hope to dream as big as they can possibly dream. And at grassroots, being able to learn the basic skills, the basic foundations to hopefully one day through discipline, hard work, sacrifice, perseverance get to the top is incredibly important."
His words were echoed by Manchester United and France international footballer Patrice Evra, who sees Dakar 2026 as the first step in a bright sporting future for the land of his birth.
“It's just amazing, it was about time. The country where I come from originally to have this competition shows you how much Africa has grown up and how much trust there is now in Africa,” Evra told Olympics.com.
“I think this is a big step, but I want to see more of that. I want to see formula one in Africa, all the things. In Africa we have a lot of people who love sport, they are really passionate about that. It’s a lot of fun. Doing those kinds of events in their home countries is just amazing.” - Patrice Evra to Olympics.com
New partnership driven by Olympism365
The new collaboration with Laureus Sport for Good will also contribute to the IOC’s Olympism365 strategy, which brings together a range of organisations from both within and beyond the Olympic Movement to strengthen the role of sport as an important enabler for the UN SDGs, and be a catalyst for collective action and innovation, helping to realise the potential of sport as a force for good.
This aligns with this year’s IOC campaign for the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), celebrated globally on 6 April, which is highlighting efforts to innovate how sport and Olympism can contribute to building healthier, safer and more peaceful and inclusive societies, particularly at a time when the world is facing so many challenges.
To learn more about the activities and initiatives that the IOC is supporting through Olympism365, subscribe to the new Advancing Olympism365 newsletter by clicking here. The first edition of the newsletter will come out on 30 April.